The Science and Technology Committee has today released its
Report, An immigration system that works for science and
innovation.
The Report sets out the Committee’s proposal for an immigration
system for the science and innovation sector, and skilled workers
more generally. The Committee developed the proposals following
Government inaction on the issue and the urgency of the situation
facing the UK’s science and innovation sector.
, Chair of the Science and
Technology Committee, said:
“Collaboration is crucial to the UK maintaining its position as a
science superpower, and it is essential that the UK has an
immigration system that facilitates the mobility of the science
and innovation community. Delay in confirming how the system will
work following Brexit is deeply damaging. Industry and research
communities urgently need certainty.
“If the UK wishes to remain open and attractive to the brightest
and best global talent following Brexit, it requires an
immigration system that allows researchers, technicians, students
and innovative entrepreneurs to arrive and work in the UK without
facing a burdensome and daunting process.
“Nobody wants to see damage to our economy as a result of
restricting the ability of skilled workers to come to this
country. This is essential for our future prosperity.”
The Committee’s proposed immigration system has been
developed to tackle the pressing matter of EEA migration to the
UK after we leave the EU, though it sees clear advantages to
applying it to non-EEA countries. It:
-
Recommends that the Government establishes visa-free and
permit-free work in the UK for up to 180 days for skilled
workers.
-
Proposes that for long-term migration to the UK, a five-year
skilled work permit should be established for those with either
an offer of employment, a minimum salary that reflects both the
going rate for the job, as well as regional, and public/private
sector, differences in salary, or third-party sponsorship.
- Sets
out the steps that the Government can take now, unilaterally, to
the current non-EEA immigration system while negotiations with
the EU are ongoing.
-
Highlights concerns that the eligibility criteria for the Tier 1
(Exceptional Talent) visa are too stringent and that this has
resulted in a poor uptake of the visa.
- Calls
on the Government to reinstate the Tier 1 (Post-study work) visa,
so that talented, international graduates, who have chosen to
study at a UK higher education institution, are able to
contribute further to the UK economy through working here.
- Calls
on the Government to remove the cap on Tier 2 (General) visas and
reduces the cost of making an application.
, Chair of the Science and
Technology Committee, said:
“Our framework details a sustainable and enforceable system of
immigration which should form the basis of further detailed work
by the Government with the science and innovation community.
Ultimately, it sets out the basis for an immigration policy that
promotes the UK as the go-to place for science and innovation,
and one that facilitates the global movement of talent into the
UK.”
The Committee’s proposal rests on the following principles:
-
support individuals with different types and levels of skill, and
who are at different career stages, as well as their dependants;
-
facilitate both long-term and short-term stays in the UK;
-
enable further travel, outside the UK, for research purposes,
without it harming an individual's ability to apply for
indefinite leave to remain;
- an
efficient, streamlined and low-cost application process for
employees and employers;
-
readily recruit highly skilled people, wherever they are from,
without being subject to an annual limit; and
- assess
skills in a way that is not wholly reliant on salary as a proxy
for skill.
Background information
In its earlier Report, Brexit, science and
innovation, the Committee recommended that the Migration
Advisory Committee “bring forward its conclusions in relation to
the immigration arrangements needed to support science and
innovation" in order for the Government to "build these into a
science and innovation agreement with the EU by October 2018 or
earlier if possible". This recommendation was rejected by the
Government. The Committee subsequently decided to take the
proactive step of developing its own proposals for an immigration
system that works for science and innovation.
This week the ‘Together Science Can’ campaign published its
report on ‘Supporting researchers to
move internationally: a profile of visa systems’. Data was
compiled by the law firm Fragomen to examine the immigration
routes available to researchers, from PhD students to established
academics, across 22 countries (including the UK) chosen to
represent a variety of established and emerging research
communities. The report found that half of the countries’ systems
reviewed had a dedicated immigration route for researchers.
