Fewer immigrants with tech skills are being turned away from the UK

Source: IT Pro, 02/10/2018

The government`s move to remove healthcare workers from the cap had a
big impact
More IT workers from overseas were able to take up jobs in the UK
after the government relaxed the rules for skilled workers to enter
the country last year.
The number of people refused entry into the UK after being offered
jobs reduced by 68% after home secretary Sajid Javid removed the cap
for healthcare workers - a sector that was previously taking up half
of all allowed persons.
Because so many doctors and nurses were previously being allowed in
due to high demand, it meant there were not enough available spaces
for workers skilled in other areas, such as technology, to come to the UK.
The Campaign for Science and Engineering (Case) revealed that 6,080
people applying for visas in the UK were refused entry between
December 2017 and March 2018, despite them meeting all the criteria
required because the cap of allowed persons had been reached.
It filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the government,
asking for refusal figures in its quest to get the caps abolished
altogether.
Every year, there`s a cap of 20,700 applied to the number of skilled
workers across various sectors allowed into the UK. This is split into
months to ensure those arriving outside of the EU don`t fill jobs that
could be taken by UK or EU citizens instead.
The number of skilled technology workers refused a visa reached its
highest in June 2018 when 541 people were not allowed to take up the
job offers because there was not enough capacity.
Case estimated that to pass entry during this period, applicants would
need to have an annual salary of around £60,000 a year - twice that if
the official requirements.
The cap was removed for healthcare workers the following month and
this is when refusals dropped significantly - down to just 171.
In the following month, the cap wasn`t reached, so all those ticking
the boxes for Tier 2 visas were allowed entry into the UK.
“We want to make sure that any future migration system does not hold
itself to an arbitrary cap,” Case said in its findings. “The issues
that the UK has had in recent months because of the cap should be a
lesson to policymakers in the Home Office and members of Government.
“We will be working to ensure that UK immigration policy supports
research & innovation, will facilitate frictionless movement, have
proportionate system rules, be founded on robust evidence and fit for
the future.”