Law firms are set to face new restrictions on international recruitment in the wake of the UK Government's announcement of a cap on the immigration of skilled workers.

The changes to the points-based immigration system – announced yesterday and published in full today (24 November) – include the removal of the tier one general category for highly-skilled workers, which will restrict the movement of migrants from outside of the European Economic Area from April next year.

The tier one general category has been widely used by law firms to bring in new recruits from overseas.

To bring in international recruits, law firms will now have to apply under the tier two general category for skilled workers, but will be restricted by the new annual migrant cap of 20,700.

The new limit will also affect law firms with overseas 'best friends' relationships, with transfers between firms also subject to the cap.

However, the Government has not placed a limit on intra-company transfers for migrants earning over £40,000, who are permitted to transfer to the UK for a five-year period.

CMS Cameron McKenna UK head of business immigration Caron Pope (pictured) said: "The legal profession will have issues to grapple with, even if they will struggle less with the salary requirement than other industries might."

"The scrapping of the tier 1 general category will be especially significant since this was previously the preferred application route for overseas recruits, while the cap on migrants within the tier 2 general will make it harder for law firms to plan their business."

Some immigration specialists have predicted that law firm recruitment rounds could see a spike in applications during certain parts of the year, which could result in delays to the start dates of overseas graduates.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal global immigration head Julia Onslow-Cole added: "As a general rule it will be more difficult for law firms to bring in people from overseas. However, in general the business sector is categorically welcoming the announcement, as it could have been a lot worse."

The Law Society echoed the sentiment, stating that the Government's announcement reflected a new understanding of the importance of lawyer immigration to the UK.

Click here for more information from the UK Border Agency.