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Immigration debate: More than 1,300 skilled visa applications were rejected by the Home Office in June

Source: James Nickerson – City AM, 25/07/2015

There is more demand for professionals than supply as the Tier 2
immigration cap is reached (Source: Getty)
A cap introduced on Tier 2 visas by the Home Office was reached for
the first time in June, resulting in 1,329 visa applications being
rejected.
A freedom of information request by technology publication Techworld
showed that after the cap of 1,650 was hit, the UK authorities
rejected applications for the first time since it was introduced in 2011.
A Tier 2 visa is applicable to people who have been offered a skilled
job in the UK and are from outside the European Economic Area and
Switzerland. Applicants must be sponsored and the work an applicant
does must relate to the work of the sponsor organisation.
The visa allows skilled migrants to stay in the UK for up to five years.
The Home Affairs Committee, the public organisation that scrutinises
Home Office activity, announced last week that it is launching an
inquiry into the impact of the cap over concerns of how it bears on
the UK economy.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, chair of the committee, said:
Reaching the cap limit for the first time last month sparked concerns
of skills shortages across the health and care sectors, and among
business leaders, particularly in the hospitality industry. It is
totally unfair that only those with the highest salaries are granted
visas once the cap is reached.

It is easy to see how this could impact on the services, sectors and
small businesses who rely on skilled workers from abroad, and in the
longer term impact on the economy. There are also serious concerns
about the knock-on effect of the loss of the post-study work route.
When the policy was announced in 2011, the Confederation of British
Industry was among those critical, saying as the government had
limited control over EU migration, the government was "closing the
door" to those outside the EU, which would deter inward investment and
result in a loss of talent in the UK.
This comes after the government implemented a new student immigration
policy whereby talented international students would have to leave the
UK and apply for a visa before returning.

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