London lawyer speaks out against UK visa restrictions
September 03 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
London lawyer concerned over UK visas
A City of London lawyer has spoken out against recent changes in the points-based system for UK visas, claiming it will prevent workers from being able to transfer to the London branches of the companies they already work for.
Edward Wanambwa, a partner of CM Murray LLP, told the City AM newspaper that the changes would result in employers seeing "a decline in the number of ICT transfers that are approved by the UK Border Agency.
"Indeed, the Migration Advisory Committee expects to see a fall of nearly 20,000 in the number of migrants who take up UK roles in 2009 under the tier of the UK immigration system that includes ICT transfers.
Many City employers will be forced to find alternative ways of hiring migrants - eg hiring migrants who qualify under the ‘highly skilled worker’ category or, where this is not possible, accept defeat."
Wanambwa explained that there were two changes that would prove restrictive for migrants wanting to move to the UK branch of their existing companies.
The first is that migrants from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland cannot use the intra company transfer to directly replace a ‘settled worker’. The second is a requirement that workers must reapply for permission to work in the UK if they are given a new role, for example, because of a promotion.
Wanambwa said there was a danger that City employers would view the UK immigration rules as "inflexible and too restrictive, as they seek to attract and retain talented employees from around the world”.
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