The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced on Facebook live yesterday that he intends on changing Immigration Rules to fast-track foreign scientists to the UK. In his announcement he also mentioned removing the 2000-cap on the current Tier 1 Exceptional Talent route and widening the number of endorsing bodies.
The Prime Minster has asked the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to work with the Home Office in coming up with a new route for scientists, which is expected to be unveiled later this year.
The overhaul of the Immigration system is welcoming news for the UK industry, as it has previously been argued that the immigration policy has increasingly focused on reducing numbers, creating a system that is too restrictive.
The press release from GOV.UK states:
To ensure the UK is the most attractive country to live in and develop new ideas, options which could be discussed with leading institutions and universities include:
- abolishing the cap on numbers under the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visas
- expanding the pool of UK research institutes and universities able to endorse candidates
- creating criteria that confer automatic endorsement, subject to immigration checks
- ensuring dependents have full access to the labour market
- removing the need to hold an offer of employment before arriving
- accelerated path to settlement
The above press release indicates a consultation period before this policy is implemented into Immigration Rules. It is likely that this would be after 31 October 2019.