Migration to the United Kingdom - a privilege and not a right

- by Judith Hinds

  The British Government is keen to improve public confidence in the system of managed migration driving a strong message to the public that the British Government is in fact extremely selective about who comes to the United Kingdom and that the people who are no longer entitled to be in the country must leave. Further that coming to the United Kingdom to work or study is a privilege and not a right.

Twenty one percent of overseas nationals have degrees compared with 17 percent of the United Kingdom born population. Overseas nationals fill important jobs in various sectors of our economy to include Financial Services, Health, Information Technology and Hospitality. Where employers are suffering difficulties in identifying suitably qualified personnel from within the resident labour market to meet their genuine business needs, they need an efficient and transparent system in place to facilitate recruitment from overseas labour. The British Government wish to take the current immigration system, streamline it, in terms of having a single process i.e., employment approval and entry clearance considered at the British Diplomatic posts overseas - which would avoid situations where a work permit is approved and the entry clearance application is refused. The British Government shall introduce procedures which include a points based system to determine overseas nationals who have the vital qualities required. It is essential to identify, attract and retain overseas nationals who shall increase the skills and enrich the British economy. To this end, the changes would enhance the trust of the British people in the United Kingdom immigration system, given the preference in terms of the calibre of individuals who would be permitted entry.

Fifteen years ago, when I started to practice in the field of United Kingdom Immigration and Nationality law, I saw the Home Office as an institution to go to battle with in order to achieve positive results for clients. However, in recent years my perspective has softened, in terms of the business immigration sector. Working within the rules, I continue to be successful with the most challenging of cases by working with the Home Office. I explain to my clients that I view the Home Office as having three functions:
i) to protect the resident labour market;
ii) to protect the overseas national, in terms of them being offered working conditions, salary etc that a resident worker doing the same job would expect to receive; and also
iii) to assist the United Kingdom employer where they are genuinely experiencing problems in recruitment.

The United Kingdom is ideally geographically placed as a centre for international business. Given the global economy, it certainly makes a business more attractive to have overseas workers that are specific to its needs. In order to successfully achieve the implementation of the mammoth task of the five year strategy for managed migration, the Home Office is demonstrating its willingness to listen to United Kingdom employers, industrial bodies, and immigration practitioners by welcoming their comments and suggestions. Watch this space!