UK Immigration News

Controversial new plans, which would mean that EU migrant workers would only be able to claim benefits from their home Country in the first twelve months after arriving in the UK, or after arriving in another EU member State; could potentially encourage more EU workers from mainland Europe to relocate to Britain according to a former Downing Street economist. This could very well result in an increase in UK immigration.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has once again expressed concerns about UK immigration policy; this time stating that the government needs to come up with a new immigration policy if the country's economy is to flourish. In particular, the body thinks that the government needs to rethink its approach to foreign workers and its Tier 2 Visa system.

The House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee has said that the UK Tier 2 Visa system is 'not fit for purpose'. The following comments were made by Keith Vaz MP Chairman of the Committee, in a scathing report published by the Committee, on the government's Tier 2 Visa cap on recruiting skilled workers from outside the European Union (EU).

… "The government's immigration cap does not fit, it may even be counter-productive…

A report published by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has criticised possible changes to UK working visas - such as to the Tier 2 Visa scheme - describing them as discriminatory and harmful to UK-Australia relations. The Australian government warned that new UK working visa rules, which, many expect to come into effect in 2016, will cause 'structural damage to formal relations between the two countries.' It seems that Theresa May the UK Home Secretary is in favour of these changes.

The statement of changes to UK immigration rules published in 29 October 2015, specifically paragraph K2 of page 43, states that the occupation 'cyber-security specialist' will be added to the official skills shortage list from November 19 2015. However, despite the addition of this occupation and a few other IT related occupations to the list, it seems that many companies will not meet the "qualifying company" requirements to obtain tier 2 visas under the new scheme. The chronic shortage of cyber security skills professionals in the UK is likely to continue.

UK Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, faced questions from MPs at a Scottish Affairs Committee meeting on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, over the possibility of re-introducing a post-study work visa scheme in Scotland. Robert Wright, Economics Professor at Strathclyde University, along with two immigration lawyers were also in attendance at the meeting to provide evidence.