Visa loophole ‘robs migrant cap of its bite’

THE Government’s supposedly strict cap on migrant workers is ‘not biting’, an expert warned yesterday.

In a bid to bring immigration under control, ministers ruled that only 21,700 visas should be given to non-eu workers each year.

A report released yesterday by the Migration Advisory Committee shows that as few as 10,000 have entered the UK under the cap in the past year. However, nearly 30,000 have entered via intra-company transfers, which let firms bring in workers whom they already employ overseas without contributing towards the capped total.

When both ICTS and visas issued under the cap are taken into consideration, there has been only a slight reduction in the number of non-eu workers entering the UK.

The number of ICTS rose from 22,000 in 2009 to 29,700 in the year ending last September. The MAC said the amount of ICTS per million of the population was ‘substantially higher for the UK’ than in comparable countries such as the U.S..

The MAC’S chairman, Professor David Metcalf, said the current cap was ‘not biting’ but warned that tightening it ‘could affect perceptions of the UK as an attractive place to do business’.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: ‘We welcome the report and we are considering the recommendations. The Government will announce its decisions in the near future.’