Global Visas reacts to Tier 2 UK work visa report

As the Home Office awaits a report to be published by the MAC regarding recommended alterations to the Tier 2 UK visa system, Global Visas director, Liam Clifford, has his own response to the two research questions the report seeks to answer:

Question 1: Is there an economic case for restricting Tier 2 to shortage occupations only?

Again the UK government shows its determination to destabilise the UK work force and make employers struggle to source and secure the best services on shore. This will not deter most international employers from hiring the overseas national if they are the best candidate.

The effect will be on off-shoring these skills and less taxes paid to HMRC. The employers who will suffer the most are the local UK-only based firms, who will be unable to secure the skills they require and survive in these difficult times. Again, we see a situation where the government and the MAC dictates the agenda to the detriment of UK businesses.

We hope MAC agree with Global Visas and believes that the UK economy is going through a recession – but this is no reason to make the situation even worse by threatening the ability of local employers to hire the best people.

Question 2: What is the Committee’s assessment of the economic contribution made by the dependants of the points-based system migrants and their role in the labour market?

Dependants, coming to the UK on work permits, have for many years been seen as a major strength to the UK immigration system. In recent years, Europe has designed the EU Blue Card to allow dependents of overseas workers to work in Europe and emulate the UK system.

International HR is clear that the rules allowing dependants to work assists them in convincing their executives and high demand skills to come to the UK on secondment.

If spouses were prohibited from employment it would potentially halve many families’ earning potential. This would mean the expats’ compensation would have to dramatically increase to compensate for this loss. The result is that further burdens would be placed on businesses to increase salaries or the expat would simply not come to the UK as it would not be financially viable.

It is also worth noting successful people usually marry like-minded successful individuals. And it is these people who are as likely to assist the UK economy as their primary work permit holding partners.