Britain To Foreign Workers: If You Don't Make $50,000 A Year, Please Leave

To reduce the number of foreign workers, some of those making less than $50,000 won't qualify to stay in Britain beyond April. Critics say the deal would cause labor shortages.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron promised back in 2010 to bring net migration down to 100,000 people a year. Six years later, it's more than three times that number.

That's one reason the government's Home Office decided that non-Europeans on skilled worker visas — known as Tier 2 visas — are not welcome to stay unless they are making at least 35,000 British pounds (about $50,000 a year).

The message is aimed at slashing migration to Britain and goes into effect in April. But critics call the new rule discriminatory and say it will strip Britain of lower-paid artists, health care workers and tradespeople.

"The estimates put the GDP loss at 181 million [pounds, equivalent to $264 million] to 761 million [pounds, equivalent to $1.1 billion], so that's a massive blow in the first year alone, for starters," Joshua Harbord says.

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