Immigration newsletter 16 Mar 2014

Do you have a professional level contract in the UK paying at least £180 per day? If so, we can help you find a sponsor and obtain a UK Tier 2 (General) skilled worker visa. It is easier to switch if you already have a Tier 1 PSW visa or Tier 4 student visa or Tier 2 Visa. The UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur scheme may also be an option. Why not contact the London office on 0344 991 9222 for further details.

Indian outsourcer says half US L-1 visa applications are declined

The Indian outsourcing firm Tata Consulting says half its US L-1 visa applications have been rejected by US immigration in the last two years. As a result, Tata is employing many more workers from the USA and Canada.

Tata's global head of human resources Ajoyendra Mukherjee said that the rejection rate has risen from about 30% in 2011 to 50% in 2012.

Mr Mukherjee says that Tata is now hiring 600 North American employees per quarter.

Indian ambassador to US warns of retaliation if H-1B reforms go ahead

The new Indian ambassador to the United States, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has told journalists that India is concerned at a US proposal to limit the number of H-1B and L-1 visa holders working for Indian outsourcing companies in the US.

Mr Jaishankar said that this could result in tit-for-tat reprisals against US trade interests in India. Because of the great difficulty in making significant changes to US immigration law it remains to be seen if any of these changes will occur in practice.

He said that, if the law on H-1B visas was to be changed and then an American company was to approach him for assistance, he would be tempted to say ‘I’m out for lunch'.

UK immigration committee recommends Tier 1 visa-auction

The UK's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended that the minimum qualifying investment for a UK Tier 1 (Investor) visa should be doubled to £2m.

The Committee has also recommended that the UK should auction off 100 ‘premium’ investor visas every year for a minimum £2.5m each. Committee chairman Professor David Metcalf said that selling off UK visas for cash was preferable to giving them away for nothing, which he said that the UK currently does.

The Home Office is yet to respond to the proposals.

British employers desperate for Romanians

British employers are advertising on Romanian work websites seeking skilled workers to come to work in the UK. The number of jobs advertised is 70% higher than at the same time last year. Most jobs this year are in healthcare, social work and care for the elderly.

However, analysis of traffic on the TJobs website shows that Romanians do not seem to want to work in the UK, preferring to go to Germany or Italy instead.

In January, on the TJobs website, there was less than one Romanian applicant for every UK job advertised.

UK minister blames Indian press for fall in student visas

David Willetts, the UK's science minister, has blamed a fall in the number of Indian and Pakistani students coming to study in the UK on a ‘lively’ press on the Indian subcontinent.

Mr Willetts said that adverse press comment about measures designed to weed out bogus students had caused Indian and Pakistani student numbers to drop while the number of Chinese students continued to rise over the same period.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has twice visited India and told journalists that there is no limit on the number of Indians who can study in the UK.

Senior Conservative says UK can still meet immigration target

The UK can still hit the government's target of cutting net immigration to below 100,000 by 2015, according to a senior Conservative Politician. The UK government promised to cut net immigration to below 100,000 per year by the election in 2015 from the 2010 level of 250,000 per year.

The latest figures show that net immigration in the year to September 2013 rose by 59,000 to 212,000. Many commentators say that the figure is likely to rise further because of immigration from the EU.

But the chairman of the UK’s governing Conservative Party Grant Shapps refused to concede defeat. He said that the government has until May 2015 to meet its target.