LS Legal News Bulletin
The UK aims to break the record on visas for academics and researchers this year
Wednesday 31st July 2019
This autumn it is expected to see a decided shift in UK immigration policy toward being more welcoming to non-EU academics, scientists and researchers; a group commonly defined as "the brightest and the best" as was first coined by David Cameron in October 2011.
The current situation in the UK, especially in the context of Brexit, provokes growing concern about the ability to attract and retain the "brightest and the best". However, the government's Industrial Strategy aims to increase total research and development investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. For this vision to be realised, it is vital that the UK has an immigration policy that facilitates the mobility of the research community. In that regard, the upcoming rule changes are:
1) removal of PhD level jobs from the Tier 2 visa quota which demonstrates that the UK is committed to supporting the easy movement of highly skilled individuals.
2) a new exemption for PhD level roles within the absence rules for settlement in case the person's absences are due to "overseas research activity".
Specific visa routes for academia
"The brightest and the best" category is fortunate to have access to unique visa routes. There are two options available for them:
1) The Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. It was created in 2011 and continuously reformed due to low initial uptake. Significant changes in January 2018 provided automatic endorsements for non-EU citizens appointed to senior positions at a UK university or research institute. As these led to, mostly, a guaranteed Exceptional Talent visa, this was a clear recognition of the value of these roles to the UK.
2) The Tier 5 (Government Authorised Exchange) visa route that was specifically designed for the academic and research community aimed to share knowledge and experience with temporary visitors from countries outside the UK and EEA.
Through this route universities and research institutes can provide sponsorship to academics and researchers. In July 2018, the route was reformed and expanded: these institutions can now host any type of short-term engagement with a non-EU academic or researcher in a manner that other employment categories would struggle to accommodate.
Carve-outs for universities within immigration routes
Furthemore, there are a number of carve-outs and exceptions in regard to highly skilled researchers.
The Tier 2 route contains a number of exceptions for PhD level roles, including:
- the ability to recruit the best person for the job regardless of nationality
- a Resident Labour Market Test waiver for 'supernumerary researchers'
- rules allowing Tier 4 students an easier transition into work (under the deliciously byzantine paragraph 245ZY(c)(iii)(7) of Part 6B of the Rules)
- greater weighting for PhD level roles within the Tier 2 quota
- an exemption from the ILR minimum salary rate, amongst other benefits.
This week Home Office signed off the Migration Advisory Committee's recent recommendations on the Shortage Occupation List. According to these recommendations, biological scientist and biochemist roles, and archaeologists now get priority within Tier 2.
Moreover, the visitor visa route also contains carve-outs, that allow highly skilled professionals to visit and gather information and facts, or share knowledge/advise on an international project that is being led from the UK.
Conclusion
Government commissioned research from 2016 indicates that, whilst the UK represents just 0.9% of global population, it ranks first among comparator countries in respect of research impact and quality. Currently the UK government is making solid effort to adapt the immigration system to become even more attractive for the "brightest and the best" to the betterment of us all.
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