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Government sets the first annual limit for Non-European workers
A raft of new measures will strictly control the numbers that can come to the UK and work from outside Europe, the Home Secretary announced today.
As well as limiting the number of skilled non-EU workers
businesses can bring into the country, the Home Office is
tightening the intra-company transfer route which will sit outside
the annual limit, and restricting Tier One of the Points Based
System (PBS) to all but entrepreneurs, investors and people of
exceptional talent.
The introduction of an annual limit was a Coalition
Government pledge and will allow Britain to remain competitive in
the international jobs market, while ensuring migrant labour is
not used as a substitute for those already looking for work in the UK.
To control those coming here, the Government has committed to:
* Introducing an annual limit of 21,700 for those coming into
the UK under the skilled and highly skilled routes - 20,700 under
the skilled route and 1,000 under the new 'exceptional
talent' route;
* raising to £40,000 the minimum
salary for those coming through the intra-company transfer route
for more than 12 months;
* restricting the highly skilled tier
of the PBS to all but entrepreneurs, investors and the
exceptionally talented; and
* requiring occupations in Tier 2
to be at graduate level.
The Government was determined to make changes to Tier One -
the 'highly skilled' tier - when it was revealed
that approximately a third of those coming through this route were
actually doing low skilled jobs once they were in the UK.
Businesses have made it clear that their priority is to fill their
specific vacancies through Tier 2.
Home Secretary Theresa May said:
"Today's announcement has set out a clear,
rational approach to which workers we will allow into the UK job
market. We have set out an approach which will not only get
immigration down to sustainable levels but at the same time,
protects those businesses and institutions which are vital to our economy.
"We will take action on all routes into the UK and
these changes are crucial if we are to limit the numbers coming
here to work, while still attracting the brightest and the best to
the UK.
"We have worked closely with businesses while
designing this system, and listened to their feedback, but we have
also made clear that as the recovery continues, we need employers
to look first to people who are out of work and who are already in
this country."
The new rules will take affect from April 2011. Applicants
under Tier Two will still be required to apply for a visa from the
UK Border Agency through the PBS, will have to be of graduate
level, be sponsored by an employer and will be awarded points
based on scarcity of skills and salary. However they will be
competing against other applicants for a visa to enter the UK and
in months when the limit is oversubscribed those with the most
points will qualify for one of the certificates of sponsorship
available each month.
Separately, businesses can bring in their own employees
through the intra-company transfer route but they must be earning
more than £40,000 to stay more than 12 months, and their stay will
be restricted to five years.
The Coalition Government has vowed to reduce net migration,
to achieve this goal changes are being made across the immigration
system - with the tightening of the economic routes just one part
of a package of measures.
In line with that commitment a consultation will be launched
before the end of the year focusing on Tier Four of the PBS - the
student route - which currently accounts for two thirds of
migrants entering the UK each year. By introducing a system that
is more selective and more robust, the Government is aiming to
stamp out abuse while continuing to attract the top students to
our top universities.
The consultation, which will run for eight weeks, will seek views
on a range of measures to reduce the number of students that can
come into the UK including:
* For adult students, focussing
Tier 4 on higher level courses and those offered by Highly Trusted
Sponsors;
* introducing tougher entry criteria such as English
language competence;
* ensuring students wishing to extend
their studies show evidence of academic progression;
*
limiting students' entitlements to work and sponsor
dependants; and
* improving the accreditation process for
education providers, alongside more rigorous inspections.
Theresa May added:
"I want to ensure that students and education
providers are of a high quality.
"People imagine students to be those who come here for a
few years to study at university and then go home - that is not
always the case. We estimate that nearly half of all students
coming here from abroad are coming to study a course below degree
level where levels of compliance with immigration requirements are
not high enough.
"While we will protect our world class universities,
we want suitably qualified students with the genuine desire to
study to come to our country. We must also have a more robust
system to ensure that students leave the country at the end of
their legitimate stay."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The full
details of the changes to applications under Tiers 1 and 2 of the
points based system can be found at: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsfragments/35-t1-t2-annual-limits
2. The Home Secretary's oral statement can be found
at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/
3. The most recent annual immigration statistics can be found
at: http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb1510.pdf
Contacts:
Home Office Press Office
Phone: 020 7035 3535
NDS.HO@coi.gsi.gov.uk
