UK Immigration News

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has urged the UK government to create a temporary UK visa scheme for foreign construction workers amid severe labour shortages. In the final quarter of 2021, vacancies across the construction industry reached their highest level in 20 years. Rising job openings seemingly correlate with a mass exodus of construction workers from the EU.

 

Startup companies in the UK banking with Revolut – a British financial technology company that offers banking services – have been banned from securing a UK sponsorship licence to sponsor skilled workers from overseas by the Home Office. Business experts say the Home Office’s decision is counter-intuitive to the UK government’s pro-fintech push.

 

Thousands of European citizens have been denied UK immigration status amid a Home Office blunder that saw them accused of crimes they did not commit. According to a report published by The Independent, hundreds of applicants have had their UK immigration applications put on hold – sometimes for years – due to non-existent, pending prosecutions.

 

Workpermit.com recently reported that the UK government was considering easing UK visa restrictions for Indians as part of a UK-India trade deal. However, the proposals have been met with a Tory backlash with ministers saying that ‘while a free trade deal is valuable in itself, Britain should not be held to ransom’.

 

British government ministers are keen to ease UK immigration restrictions to make it easier for thousands of Indian nationals to live and work in Britain, amid trade talks between the UK and India. The potential offer to ease UK visa restrictions will form part of discussions when UK international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, visits Delhi in January.

 

Beijing has blasted Britain’s BNO visa scheme for what it describes as creating ‘second-class’ citizens. According to official figures, nearly 90,000 Hong Kong nationals have applied to resettle in the UK after China imposed a new national security law on the former British territory. The scheme was launched in January 2021.