United Kingdom has announced the issuing of a new form of visa doe entrepreneurs known as “start-up” visa. This is a reflection of the increasing concern about restrictive visa policies of the UK.
According to the Home Office of the UK, this new visa class would take the place of the visas that were issued only for graduates and the visa process would also be made “faster and smoother” for entrepreneurs intending to come to the country.
The announcement was made by Sajid Javid, home secretary, as part of London Tech week. He said that UK needed to do more for attracting more business despite the fact that the country is in a leading position with respect to technology and innovation. “Our migration system plays a key part in that.
“This [new visa] will help to ensure we continue to attract the best global talent and maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading destination for innovation and entrepreneurs,” he said.
But there were criticisms of the overall visa plan of the government and the present system and the changes made do not meet up to the needs demanded by professionals and business leaders.
The restrictions on the availability of so-called “Tier 2” visas for professionals has resulted in the refusal to entry for 1,946 IT professionals from outside the European Economic Area into the UK sine November last year, reported the Financial Times a day earlier. the IT sector is one that is the second most affected by this trend after the health sector which saw refusal of visas to about 2,360 applications from doctors because of the same reason.
It would however not be until Spring next year that the new visas would become available, said the Home Office. Sponsorship from a university or an approved business would be required for the visas, it added.
The announcement clearly signals that the UK government is ultimately beginning to recognize the importance of making sure that the country remains open for business, aid Seamus Nevin, head of policy research for the Institute of Directors.
“Reforming the UK entrepreneurs’ visa system to make it easier and quicker for those people looking to move here to start a business, create employment and wealth is a very positive step,” Nevin said.
While saying that the new visa was a “great Initiative, Ian Robinson, a partner at Fragomen, a specialist immigration law firm, hopes that the government would soon take measures to delist public sector workers like doctors from the Tier 2 system list for ever.
The government is expected to seriously consider the proposal for public sector workers’ visa rule change and could come up with an announcement even by next week, Javid said.
“We need to get to a point where immigration is about more than trying to hit a numerical target,” said Robinson, while referring to the objective of the government to reduce net annual immigration to less than 100,000 annually.
(Source:www.ft.com)
According to the Home Office of the UK, this new visa class would take the place of the visas that were issued only for graduates and the visa process would also be made “faster and smoother” for entrepreneurs intending to come to the country.
The announcement was made by Sajid Javid, home secretary, as part of London Tech week. He said that UK needed to do more for attracting more business despite the fact that the country is in a leading position with respect to technology and innovation. “Our migration system plays a key part in that.
“This [new visa] will help to ensure we continue to attract the best global talent and maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading destination for innovation and entrepreneurs,” he said.
But there were criticisms of the overall visa plan of the government and the present system and the changes made do not meet up to the needs demanded by professionals and business leaders.
The restrictions on the availability of so-called “Tier 2” visas for professionals has resulted in the refusal to entry for 1,946 IT professionals from outside the European Economic Area into the UK sine November last year, reported the Financial Times a day earlier. the IT sector is one that is the second most affected by this trend after the health sector which saw refusal of visas to about 2,360 applications from doctors because of the same reason.
It would however not be until Spring next year that the new visas would become available, said the Home Office. Sponsorship from a university or an approved business would be required for the visas, it added.
The announcement clearly signals that the UK government is ultimately beginning to recognize the importance of making sure that the country remains open for business, aid Seamus Nevin, head of policy research for the Institute of Directors.
“Reforming the UK entrepreneurs’ visa system to make it easier and quicker for those people looking to move here to start a business, create employment and wealth is a very positive step,” Nevin said.
While saying that the new visa was a “great Initiative, Ian Robinson, a partner at Fragomen, a specialist immigration law firm, hopes that the government would soon take measures to delist public sector workers like doctors from the Tier 2 system list for ever.
The government is expected to seriously consider the proposal for public sector workers’ visa rule change and could come up with an announcement even by next week, Javid said.
“We need to get to a point where immigration is about more than trying to hit a numerical target,” said Robinson, while referring to the objective of the government to reduce net annual immigration to less than 100,000 annually.
(Source:www.ft.com)
