Companies bypassing immigration cap on skilled migrants
Overseas staff coming to UK under 'intra-company transfer' scheme surged to 29,700 last year, Home Office figures show
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 February 2012 10.35 GMT
Article history
Overseas staff transfers became exempt from the immigration cap after lobbying by the business secretary, Vince Cable, and the Indian government.
British companies are bypassing the government's cap on skilled migrants by bringing in staff from their plants and offices overseas, an official report has found.
Figures from the Home Office's migration advisory committee show that the numbers coming to Britain under the "intra-company transfer" scheme have surged in the past two years and now outnumber those coming into Britain on work visas by three to one. The rise has rendered the cap on skilled overseas migrants redundant, with fewer than half the work visas available under the annual limit being used.
The latest figures show that transfers of company staff, especially from IT firms in India, have risen from 22,000 in 2009 to 29,700 last year. David Cameron exempted these staff transfers from the immigration cap after strong lobbying by the business secretary, Vince Cable, and representations from the Indian government.
An official estimate shows that as few as 10,000 tier-2 work visas will be issued to skilled workers in the 12 months to April 2012. This is less than half the limit of 21,700 skilled work visas set by the home secretary, Theresa May, as part of the drive to reduce net annual migration from 250,000 to "tens of thousands" by the next election.
The committee said in a report published on Tuesday that in this situation it was not necessary to change the 21,700 limit on work visas that applies to skilled migrants from outside the European Economic Area for the next financial year.
The government's migration advisers say they do not think any changes should be made to curb intra-company transfers but the route should be kept under review, especially the use of company transfers that involve the use of third-party contractors.
The committee chair, Professor David Metcalf, said that although the limit was undersubscribed it should not be lowered because that would affect the perception that Britain was an attractive place to do business.
"The tier 2 limit system is set up to prevent the displacement of UK workers but intra-company transfers are not part of that limit and account for the lion's share of visas," he said.
The committee also recommends that some highly paid jobs and PhD-level jobs should be exempt from the resident market labour test that offers vacancies to British workers first.
Overseas staff coming to UK under 'intra-company transfer' scheme surged to 29,700 last year, Home Office figures show
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 February 2012 10.35 GMT
Article history
Overseas staff transfers became exempt from the immigration cap after lobbying by the business secretary, Vince Cable, and the Indian government.
British companies are bypassing the government's cap on skilled migrants by bringing in staff from their plants and offices overseas, an official report has found.
Figures from the Home Office's migration advisory committee show that the numbers coming to Britain under the "intra-company transfer" scheme have surged in the past two years and now outnumber those coming into Britain on work visas by three to one. The rise has rendered the cap on skilled overseas migrants redundant, with fewer than half the work visas available under the annual limit being used.
The latest figures show that transfers of company staff, especially from IT firms in India, have risen from 22,000 in 2009 to 29,700 last year. David Cameron exempted these staff transfers from the immigration cap after strong lobbying by the business secretary, Vince Cable, and representations from the Indian government.
An official estimate shows that as few as 10,000 tier-2 work visas will be issued to skilled workers in the 12 months to April 2012. This is less than half the limit of 21,700 skilled work visas set by the home secretary, Theresa May, as part of the drive to reduce net annual migration from 250,000 to "tens of thousands" by the next election.
The committee said in a report published on Tuesday that in this situation it was not necessary to change the 21,700 limit on work visas that applies to skilled migrants from outside the European Economic Area for the next financial year.
The government's migration advisers say they do not think any changes should be made to curb intra-company transfers but the route should be kept under review, especially the use of company transfers that involve the use of third-party contractors.
The committee chair, Professor David Metcalf, said that although the limit was undersubscribed it should not be lowered because that would affect the perception that Britain was an attractive place to do business.
"The tier 2 limit system is set up to prevent the displacement of UK workers but intra-company transfers are not part of that limit and account for the lion's share of visas," he said.
The committee also recommends that some highly paid jobs and PhD-level jobs should be exempt from the resident market labour test that offers vacancies to British workers first.
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