Tweet
</span> 
Theresa May: "The points based system alone is not sufficient"
Related stories
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has pledged to crack down on immigration abuse in order to restore public confidence in the system.
In her first major speech on immigration policy, she said the number of non-EU migrants had to be reduced to "sustainable levels".
Between 1997 and 2009, net migration was 2.2 million people - more than twice the population of Birmingham.
Mrs May said she would shortly bring forward proposals to cut the number.
Net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and the number emigrating - stood at 196,000 last year.
The coalition government has promised at least to halve this figure by by 2015.
This is to be achieved partly with a cap on the number of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area.
In June, the Home Office introduced a temporary limit of 24,100 work visas for non-EU citizens.
Permanent measures will be brought in from April 2011 but the final decision on the figure is not expected until next month.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Theresa May: "The points based system alone is not sufficient"
Related stories
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has pledged to crack down on immigration abuse in order to restore public confidence in the system.
In her first major speech on immigration policy, she said the number of non-EU migrants had to be reduced to "sustainable levels".
Between 1997 and 2009, net migration was 2.2 million people - more than twice the population of Birmingham.
Mrs May said she would shortly bring forward proposals to cut the number.
Net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and the number emigrating - stood at 196,000 last year.
The coalition government has promised at least to halve this figure by by 2015.
This is to be achieved partly with a cap on the number of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area.
In June, the Home Office introduced a temporary limit of 24,100 work visas for non-EU citizens.
Permanent measures will be brought in from April 2011 but the final decision on the figure is not expected until next month.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.