Ministers have been advised to cut the number of non-EU skilled migrants allowed to do specific jobs in the UK.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the Home Office on migration issues, has said the number of jobs available to workers from outside Europe should be reduced to 190,000 from 260,000.
A total of 29 specific jobs have been removed from the list available to non-EU migrants including secondary school biology teachers, consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology, vets and orchestral musicians.
David Metcalf, the chairman of the MAC, said the government needed to train more UK citizens in the necessary skills rather than rely on migration.
"This will reduce the UK's reliance on migrant workers in the long term and provide real benefits for the economy as a whole," he said.
The MAC has advised that 33 additions be made however, including consultants in emergency medicine; visual effects animators and operations managers in the decommissioning areas of the nuclear industry.
The annual limit on immigration from outside the EEA was introduced on 6 April 2011. The MAC said the proposed changes would have limited impact on overall migration volumes.