Image copyright PA Image caption Skilled migrants from outside the EU currently need to have a job offer with a minimum salary of £30,000

Northern Ireland should not have its own salary threshold for immigrants, an expert committee has advised.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) says the government should drop the threshold for immigrants to the UK by more than £4,000.

Skilled migrants from outside the EU currently need to have a job offer with a minimum salary of £30,000.

Business groups in Northern Ireland said the region should have a lower cap due to its unique circumstances.

In November, the NI Chamber of Commerce suggested a cap of £21,000.

The MAC said there were arguments for and against geographical variation in thresholds but "on balance we recommend a single salary threshold across the UK".

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It said a lower threshold for some parts of the UK risked labelling some places as low wage and "reinforcing geographical inequalities."

However it left open the possibility that the position of Northern Ireland could be reviewed as the impact of Brexit becomes clearer.

"The situation of Northern Ireland is unique as the only part of the UK with a land border with the EU and a labour market more distinct from the rest of the UK," the committee said.

"Special consideration could be given to Northern Ireland especially if it comes to have a different relationship with the EU compared to the rest of the UK.

"On balance the MAC agreed not to recommend a different salary threshold but future consideration could be given to this."

Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said "from what we see so far, it does not make for great reading for the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland."

"Once again, there seems to be a failure to take into consideration the unique set of circumstances here," he said.

"Although we do welcome the reduction in the salary threshold, it remains too high, not NI specific, with the skills bar set to a height that is prohibitive for a region which is expected to have 30,000 vacancies in the hospitality sector by 2024."

Point-based system

A review into the impact of salary thresholds was requested by the then-home secretary (and now Chancellor) Sajid Javid in June 2019.

The MAC also takes a cautious view of the prime minister's plan for a points-based immigration system.

Boris Johnson said it would be inspired by schemes like the one in Australia, where applicants are assigned points based on a number of professional and personal characteristics, with higher points awarded for more desirable traits.

These would include the amount of time they have worked in a skilled sector through to their proficiency in the English language.

After examining other such schemes around the world, the MAC said points-based systems were "always just one part of a wider immigration system and typically also represents just part of the work migration system".

It recommended points should only be used when it came to highly-skilled migrants.

Separately, the MAC has also proposed stopping classifying people who work in fishing, elementary agricultural roles or as waiters and waitresses as skilled workers.

However, it said carpenters, glaziers, plasterers and teaching assistants should be designated as skilled workers.