Great Club Visa
At last we are finally opening the door and putting out the welcome mat to those who bring economic benefit to the UK. Below is the article in today’s BBC.
Foreign business executives with “strong links” to the UK will get help to expedite their visa applications under a new Home Office scheme.
About 100 “high value” executives will be invited to join the new Great Club Visa, to ensure their immigration checks are completed “swiftly and smoothly”. They will be offered personal support in navigating the immigration system, including their own “account manager”. But they will still have to undergo the same checks as ordinary travellers.
The 12-month Great Club Visa pilot follows criticism that curbs on immigration are deterring wealth creators from coming to the UK. The government has made it harder for migrants from outside the EU to come to the UK unless they have specific skills as well as attempting to crack down on students and family members overstaying their visas.
Home Secretary Theresa May said it would enable the UK to maintain a “competitive visa system that can innovate in order to serve the ever-changing needs of business and ensureBritainsucceeds in the global race”.
“We will continue to listen and respond to the needs of high-value and high-priority businesses so that we can provide them with a service that supports economic growth while at the same time maintains the security of our borders.”
Last month, Chancellor George Osborne said the UK would be simplifying its visa procedures to make it easier for Chinese visitors to enter the country. A same-day business-oriented visa service, currently in force inIndia, will be introduced in China and other countries. The number of countries benefiting from a priority visa service – which enables eligible applicants to have their applications fast-tracked on paying a fee – will rise from 67 to 90 by next April.
Business Secretary Vince Cable and Mayor of London Boris Johnson are among those to have warned against deterring the “brightest and the best” from coming to the UK, amid claims that tougher requirements for foreign students to stay in the UK after graduation are putting many off from coming in the first place.
And plans to impose visa restrictions on Brazilians were put on hold earlier this year amid concerns that it would damage commercial links with Brazil’s fast-growing economy.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
