UK immigration rules changed to protect British workers
September 08 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
UK immigration rules guard British jobs
The UK government has taken measures to protect British workers after recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee, including a move that will see immigrants paid more when they work in the UK.
Foreigners wanting to move to the UK from outside the EU on a skilled worker UK visa will now have to wait until a job vacancy has been advertised within the country for four weeks before they can apply from abroad.
This is intended to give British workers more of a chance to take jobs that may be currently going to foreigners.
Another change will mean that the minimum salary which a non-EU skilled worker can be recruited on is increased to £20,000, from just £17,000. This move is intended to prevent companies looking to save money by taking on foreign workers at the expense of eligible British workers.
The qualifying period for the transfer of foreign employees on UK visas by a company with overseas offices has also been increased to prevent abuse of the intra-company transfer system. Staff must have worked for a company for a year to qualify for a transfer, an increase of six months.
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