UK unveils temporary visa plans for EU nationals after Brexit
‘Safety valve’ for companies dependent on labour from the bloc fails to pacify business
EU nationals of all skill levels will be allowed to enter Britain after Brexit for up to one year at a time, under a new visa regime intended to reconcile Prime Minister Theresa May’s promise to take back control of immigration with business concerns about recruitment.
The new temporary visa is designed to act as a “safety valve” for employers adjusting to the end of free movement for EU nationals but failed to win round business groups worried about increased bureaucracy and a rapid turnover of short-term workers.
The plans were contained in a long awaited white paper on immigration, which was published on Wednesday after being delayed more than a year.
In his foreword to the document, Sajid Javid, home secretary, said it set out a reformed system that “welcomes talent from every corner of the globe and demonstrates the UK is open for business”.
But business groups have been deeply concerned about the government’s plans to curb immigration — a longstanding aim of Mrs May, who has consistently argued that one of the main objectives of Brexit is to take back control of the UK’s border.
The CBI, the leading business lobby, warned of “the economic damage of draconian blocks on access to vital overseas workers”.
Industry groups have warned that the delay to the white paper has left them without enough time to adjust to any new regime that would end priority entry for EU nationals. At present, European workers are not subject to any immigration restrictions.
The new blueprint’s provisions for a “transitional” visa are a concession to such concerns. The temporary scheme would run until least 2025 — and allow EU migrants and those from “low-risk” non-EU countries to enter the UK without a job offer for up to a year.
But although such measures will ease concerns about an immediate “cliff-edge” for workers in sectors such as construction, hospitality and retail after the end of the Brexit transition period, they are likely to increase the administrative burden on migrants and mean that employers will no longer be able to rely on a long-term, low-skilled workforce.
Workers entering under the transitional visa will have no rights to settle, access public funds, or bring family members.
However, the white paper softens initial proposals, backed by the government’s independent immigration advisers, that would have set a minimum salary threshold of £30,000 for migrants to enter as “highly skilled workers”. The threshold will now be put out to consultation following criticisms that it was too high.
It will also be subject to some exemptions, including graduate jobs.
In a big change to the current regime, the cap on the number of skilled worker visas issued each year — now set at 20,700 — will also be abolished. Employers will no longer need to prove they have tried to recruit locally before bringing in a worker from overseas.
The Home Office promised to “streamline” the application process for employers wishing to sponsor visa applicants. Both the skilled worker visa and the temporary visa will open to EU migrants in autumn 2020 to allow time for applications before the end of the scheduled transition period in December of that year.
Mrs May’s exit deal with the EU, which is facing formidable opposition in the House of Commons, would establish a transition period that could run until the end 2022 during which time free movement would remain.
But if the deal has not been agreed by the time Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 2019, free movement will end immediately.
The paper provoked a rift within the cabinet, with Philip Hammond, chancellor, and Greg Clark, business secretary, arguing fervently against some of the curbs favoured by Mrs May.
While the Treasury secured some eleventh-hour amendments to the plans, Josh Hardie, deputy director-general of the CBI, described the proposals as a “sucker punch for many firms right across the country.”
“A new immigration system must command public confidence and support the economy. These proposals would achieve neither,” he said.
“These proposals must change. And when a new system that will work is agreed, the UK must be given time to adapt. This means at least two years to implement the changes after the rules are finalised.”
Ahead of the white paper’s publication Mr Javid said the new system would “bring net migration down to more sustainable levels” although he refused to endorse the Conservative manifesto pledge of reducing net migration to the “tens of thousands.” Mr May reaffirmed that reducing migration to such a level was still her aim when asked at prime minister’s questions.