Scottish Business Minister has published proposals for a
visa system that supports Scotland's distinct needs.
This includes existing proposals for a Scottish Visa, Rural Visa
and Scottish Graduate Visa and making the current immigration
system more accessible to the needs of different sectors.
The Scottish Government has highlighted the UK Government's
closure of the Adult Social Care visa route as an example of
creating an increased risk of workforce shortages and service
pressures, particularly in rural and island communities.
This newly-published Scottish Government policy paper highlights
the economic and social challenges the country may face if the UK
Government does not take action.
While migration remains a reserved policy area, the Scottish
Government has taken forward several initiatives, including the
development of Scotland's Migration Service and delivery of the
Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, funding for which was
increased by almost 50% this year.
Mr Arthur said:
Mirroring a trend in many countries throughout the world,
Scotland has an ageing population and areas where the population
is falling. This makes immigration ever-more critical in ensuring
we have working-age people to fill skills gaps, sustain public
services, support communities and grow the economy.
A migration system designed around UK-wide averages which is what
we have now cannot adequately respond to Scotland's demographic
and geographic circumstances.
In the spirit of the Prime Minister's public commitment to reset
relationships with devolved governments, I have invited the UK
Migration Minister to engage with me in constructive discussions
to ensure that the immigration system is tailored to Scotland's
needs.
Background
Submitting Scottish Visa proposals to the UK government is a 100
Days commitment.
The visa proposals policy
paper is available on the Scottish Government website.
The latest population
estimates show that the populations of 20 out of 32
council areas fell between mid-2024 and mid-2025.
The same statistics show that Scotland's population continues to
age. At mid-2025, 21.0% of the population were aged 65 and over,
compared with 16.3% at mid-2005.
Over the same period, the percentage of children aged 0 to 15
years fell from 18.2% to 15.8%.
