(The Minister for
Immigration): My rt hon Friend the Home Secretary
is today laying before the House a Statement of Changes in
Immigration Rules.
The changes include exempting doctors and nurses from the Tier 2
(General) limit, recognising the important contribution that
overseas health professionals make to our NHS. This is in
response to the particular shortages and pressures facing the NHS
at the current time, as well as the fact that the limit has been
oversubscribed in each month since December 2017. The change will
mean that health sector employers will be able to sponsor doctors
and nurses without putting pressure on the limit, freeing up
places within the limit for other key roles which contribute to
the UK economy and other public services. The changes will be
kept under review.
The Government will also ask the independent Migration Advisory
Committee to review the composition of the Shortage Occupation
List.
Building on the changes announced by the Chancellor in the
autumn, which were implemented in January of this year, further
improvements are being made to the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent
route. These changes include widening the scope of the creative
element of the route to include leading fashion designers, and
improved provisions for applicants in film and television.
Appendix H is being updated to include a number of visa national
countries, which will allow a greater number of students to
benefit from a streamlined application process by reducing
documentary requirements. This change demonstrates the continued
focus on improving the UK’s offer to international students.
Today also sees the introduction of a new rule for those
transferred to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act
2016 (section 67 leave), who do not qualify for Refugee or
humanitarian protection leave under the existing Rules. In
keeping with our commitments in the legislation, and in line with
those granted Refugee or humanitarian protection leave,
individuals who qualify for section 67 leave will have the right
to study, work, access public funds and healthcare and apply for
indefinite leave to remain without paying a fee after five years.
New settlement provisions are being created to put beyond doubt
that Afghan nationals who worked with our Armed Forces in
Afghanistan, and subsequently relocated to the UK with their
families, will be able to apply for permanent residence here. As
announced on 4 May, these applications will also be free of
charge. Afghan locally engaged staff worked in dangerous and
challenging situations, regularly putting their lives at risk and
we would not have been able to carry out our work there without
them. The new dedicated settlement rules make clear our
commitment to honour their service and ensure they can continue
to build their lives here. The changes also implement plans to
extend the ex-gratia redundancy scheme by six years to recognise
and honour the service of those made redundant before 19 December
2012, as announced by the Defence Secretary on 11 June.
As announced in March, a new route to settlement for Turkish
business people and their families who are in the UK under the
European Communities Association Agreement is also being created.
Eligibility is being extended for this route to Turkish workers
and their families who are also here under the Association
Agreement.
Changes are being made to provisions to allow holders of an
Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) to present their EVW in a digital
format. The changes will also establish a wider set of
permissible errors that will overlook specific, minor
discrepancies in the biographic details of an EVW, without
compromising on the security of the EVW system.
