The government has quietly reduced the £35,800 minimum salary for migrants to settle in the UK by almost 30%, it has emerged.

Migrants on salaries of £20,480 but with enough points under Boris Johnson's new Australian-style immigration system to qualify for jobs where there is a shortage of workers will also be entitled to settle after six years and become citizens.

The rules, which come into force on 1 December, were published on Thursday by the Home Office, with the general threshold lowered to £25,600 as the government tacitly acknowledged the essential contribution that lower paid migrant workers make to the UK.

However, Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for tighter immigration control, said the move would reduce the incentive for employers to train British workers.