UK Home Secretary Promises Review of Visa Cap for Highly Skilled Immigrants

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on June 3 said that the United Kingdom will review the country’s visa system for highly skilled immigrants, BBC reported.

Following the statement made by Javid, UK Prime Minister Theresa May could announce lifting the cap on visas (Tier 2 visa) for highly skilled immigrants, the Guardian reported. Tier 2 visa can be applied for only if a candidate has been offered a skilled job in the United Kingdom, and the applicant hails from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

In reference to reports of denial of visa to over 1,000 doctors, Javid said, “A number of my colleagues have asked me to look at this and it’s exactly what I’m doing.” He, however, added that the government will continue to stamp out undocumented immigrants.

Javid, who appeared on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, also said that he will review at the hostile environment for immigrants in the country, adding that he prefers to call it a “compliant” environment.

“I am going to look at how it’s being implemented, I want to review aspects of the policy, I’ve already made some changes, certainly I’ve suspended certain things, for example opening bank accounts and whether you can or cannot as an illegal immigrant,” Javid said.

https://twitter.com/Jason_Keen/status/1003249474569932801

The move to review the Tier 2 visa system was welcomed by Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of the National Health Service (NHS) Employers. Mortimer urged the Home Office to implement an effective solution. “We welcome a government review of the Tier 2 visa system. Many of our employers could not again get certificates of sponsorship for doctors during May. It is now six months since we first started having problems, along with other sectors,” Mortimer was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Javid also said that he would once again take a look at including foreign students in net immigration figures, noting that there was a perception problem. “I’ll be working towards, rightly, reducing net migration and bringing it to lower, sustainable levels,” he said.

In January, the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee had called on the government to remove students from the net migration target. In its report, the committee said that it is not logical or in the best interests of the United Kingdom to include international students in a target meant for restricting migration flow.

Recently Javid put on hold action being taken against immigrants who were facing deportation due to discrepancies in taxation documents. In a letter sent to Yvette Cooper, the chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, that was released on May 29, Javid wrote that he has asked UK Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes to carry out a review of the cases.