UK work visas still available through intra-company transfer
July 05 2010 by Liam Clifford
It has emerged that companies will be able to bypass the new cap on non-EU immigration to the UK by transferring workers, already employed by the firm abroad, to work in the UK.
The news follows an announcement from Home
Secretary Theresa May that the number of UK work visas issued to non-EU immigrants
is to be limited to 24,400 for the rest of the financial year.
The cap,
however, will not apply to intra-company transfer (ICTs) through which
companies can allow their staff to work in the UK, even if the new cap has been
reached.
The intra-company transfer system allows many thousands of
people to work in the UK each year. Single companies have been known to bring
over thousands of staff to work in the UK, such as India’s Tata Consultancy
Services, which sponsored 4,600 of its staff to move to the UK in
2008.
These statistics have led some critics to claim that the
coalition’s immigration limit is a “sham”.
However, supporters of the ICT
programme claim that the scheme allows companies to bring in staff to take roles
that can not be filled by British staff. Others claims the system is often
exploited and that the work carried out by the transferred staff could usually
be done by British workers.
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