Public Consultations On UK Immigration Cap On Tier 1 And Tier 2 Visas

20 Aug 2010

UK Coalition Government is consulting the public about the new immigration cap which will largely affect Tier 2 and Tier 1 visa applications. This consultation will help to understand how immigration cap should work in practice.

UK immigration says that they wish "to attract the brightest and the best people to the UK". However, they do not want "uncontrolled migration". There have been concerns in the UK that "unlimited" levels of immigration have put too much pressure on public services, schools and housing.

The Director of HSMP Forum Ltd Amit Kapadia which has been very successful in opposing changes on immigration policy in the High Court had the following to say: "The UK government's move to impose an illogical cap will be opposed."

"We don't think that any sort of cap would work out. It would be unworkable. The effects remain to be seen, but if the government really tries to implement drastic measures it is going to cause a lot of unhappiness, especially among migrants who work hard and pay taxes."

Some businesses in UK are already experiencing problems. In some cases, businesses have been given a zero allocation of sponsorship certificates and will not be able to employ anyone new under the Tier 2 visa in the financial year. Sine businesses are threatening to leave the UK.

The consultation will also look at how to attract high net worth migrants to the UK as investors and entrepreneurs. It has been suggested that lowering UK tax rates would probably help to attract wealthy individuals from abroad and will also result overall in fewer high net worth individuals leaving UK. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is also having its own consultation on the immigration cap. This consultation ends on 7 September 2010. The permanent limits on non-EU economic immigration will then be put in place on 1 April 2011.