Home Office visa snub is galling for islanders
Blow to hunt for Gaelic-speaking teacher as qualified Canadian’s bid is turned down
A GAELIC-SPEAKING teacher has been formally denied a visa to work at a Scots school – because the Home Office don’t think there’s a shortage.
The knockback comes despite a long and unsuccessful campaign to fill the vacancy on the Isle of Mull.
And it increases pressure on the UK Government to give Holyrood more say in who can come to Scotland for key jobs.
Parents and Argyll and Bute Council were delighted when Canadian Sine Halfpenny applied after a failure to find a UK citizen to do the job at Bunessan Primary.
Sine is qualified to teach in Scotland and is fluent in Gaelic. She is currently teaching in Nova Scotia, where there are Gaelicspeaking communities.
Her first application failed because of a problem with the paperwork.
And the Home Office said the final application failed because it didn’t meet the required “points”.
The rejection was made as Britain hit its cap on visas for skilled non-Europeans for a third month in a row.
Campaigners for a more devolved system say Brexit will only increase the pressure.
The SNP Government will again make the case for a tailored Scottish system in a Holyrood debate on migration rules today.
Argyll MSP Michael Russell, a former education secretary, said: “We need a system tailored to our needs. The Gaelic teacher is a prime example of that need.”
It emerged this week that hundreds of emails were sent to employers telling them their certificates of sponsorship had failed because they didn’t achieve the required points score. The only loophole was for jobs on the official shortage list.
The Home Office said: “Previously, Ms Halfpenny’s visa was refused as she did not submit a certificate of sponsorship.
“Her sponsor’s application was rejected as it failed to meet the required points.”