UK Immigration News

Continued UK immigration delays affecting migrants doctors are keeping them off the frontline in the fight against COVID-19. With the NHS crumbling under the strain of rising coronavirus cases, and with tens of thousands of doctors and nurses off sick having been infected, qualified foreign doctors continue to remain sidelined due to immigration delays.

 

Despite the UK government recently claiming that Brussels rejected visa-free travel for EU and UK musicians, EU representatives have hit back claiming that it was the Tories that refused a visa-free deal, sparking a furious backlash from British musicians.

 

Amid stalled talks over a visa-free travel agreement, The Independent reported that a ‘standard’ proposal outlined by the EU, which would have exempted music artists from the huge costs and bureaucracy associated with obtaining a visa for 90 days, was turned down by British government officials. 

Following a recent Workpermit.com report about a petition urging the UK government to agree visa-free travel for EU and British creatives, news has emerged that talks over such a deal won’t happen any time soon. According to the UK government, the EU refused to consider a work permit agreement.

 

A deal to allow visa-free travel between the UK and EU for touring musicians would have helped to reduce red tape and additional costs. 

In country UK Skilled Worker visa applicants may have been hit by COVID-19 related concessions, according to a report published by Personnel Today. It’s understood that Home Office guidance issued for Skilled Worker visa applicants was amended on 23 December at 5.32pm, when many British businesses would have closed for Christmas.

 

Amid efforts to improve UK border security following Brexit, the government has announced a series of measures, including the extension of the UK visa waiver program. Additional efforts to secure UK borders include a newly launched points-based immigration system, investment in infrastructure and technology and passport requirements.

 

Ahead of the launch of the UK’s BNO visa - exclusively for Hong Kong nationals - on January 31, new research shows that Britain has emerged as the relocation destination of choice for citizens of the Special Administrative Region. In December 2020, Workpermit.com reported that the UK government had underestimated the take-up of the BNO visa.