Key UK panel for scrapping work visa cap after Brexit

LONDON: An influential committee on Tuesday recommended scrapping of the current annual recruitment cap of 20,700 Indian and other non-EU professionals after Brexit, adding that no preference should be given to European Union citizens.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), in a long-awaited report on migration from within the EU, said it recommends “moving to a system in which all migration is managed with no preferential access to EU citizens”. Recommendations by the MAC are usually adopted by the government.

Unrestricted migration since the early 2000s, and the pressure it put on public services and other areas in Britain, was one of the key reasons for the “Leave” vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

A key aspect of the MAC report is its recommendation to lift the cap on hiring non-EU professionals, and put less restrictions on the Tier 2 work visa. Among the largest number of visas issued under this route has been to Indian professionals.

The MAC said: “We recommend that the cap is abolished — it creates uncertainty among employers and it makes little sense for a migrant to be perceived as of value one day and not the next which is what inevitably happens when the cap binds.”

The committee’s analysis shows that higher-skilled workers tend to have higher earnings, thus making a more positive contribution to the public finances. A shift towards higher skilled migration also aligns with the industrial strategy, it said.

The MAC recommends a lessrestrictive visa regime for highlyskilled professionals, but it remains unclear if one of the major promises made before the referendum — that a “Leave” vote would enable hiring of skilled chefs from the Indian subcontinent — would be realised under the new system.

The multi-billion pound Indian restaurant industry has suffered in recent years due to the high salary threshold laid down for hiring chefs from outside the EU — a threshold that few restaurants can afford to pay. The promise to enable such recruitment after Brexit was hailed by the industry.

THE MIGRATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH COLLATING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY AFTER BRITAIN LEAVES THE EU.