The Government published its latest immigration policy paper on 24 May 2021 which reflected on the end of free movement and set out their vision for the future.
The key points include:
EU Settlement Scheme
EU citizens who arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020 have until 30 June 2021 to apply for either pre-settled or settled status. Employers can also continue to accept passports and identity cards of EU citizens as evidence of their right to work until this date. We’ve been highlighting this and the implications for individuals and organisations in our recent social media posts; EU nationals and their family members should make sure they apply before the deadline.
Sponsorship
A digital, simplified and modern sponsorship system will be introduced which will enable more efficient operation for both users and the Home Office, and which will encourage compliance. Greater use of technology will also identify any abuse of the systems. A roadmap will be published this summer setting out further improvements that will be made to the sponsorship system in 2022 and beyond. Whilst this is to be welcomed, the Home Office have confirmed to us that none of these changes are imminent, and sponsors will need to continue grappling with the current system (with all of its quirks) for the foreseeable future.
New and reformed immigration routes:
- Graduate route: This will be launched in summer 2021 and will provide international students the opportunity to stay in the UK to work or look for work after they graduate. Undergraduate and masters’ degree students will be able to stay in the UK for 2 years, whilst PhD graduates will be able to stay for three years. There will be no ongoing sponsorship requirement. After this period of either two or three years, individuals can then apply to switch into a permanent work route if they find a suitable job. This will be a welcome development for businesses struggling with recruitment following the end of free movement.
- Global Talent: The current Global Talent route will be rebranded to provide a new route for individuals with prestigious awards or prizes. The Home Office has also announced that there will no longer be a requirement for holders of certain specified awards and prizes to have the approval of a Home Office endorsing body.
- A “new, unsponsored points-based route”: This will be introduced in Spring 2022 and will have a particular emphasis on the very high skilled and academically elite. Within this route there will also be a “scale up” stream allowing those with a job offer, at the required skills level from a recognised UK scale-up, to qualify for a fast-track visa without needing sponsorship. Whilst this is potentially good news for businesses, the details remain scant.
- Internal Sportsperson route: No implementation date has been provided but it is hoped that this will replace the previous Tier 2 and Tier 5 routes with a single route for the sport sector.
- Temporary worker routes: This will be introduced in September 2021 and intends to replace the remaining Tier 5 routes. It will therefore include the routes for creative workers, religious workers and a range of government-authorised exchange schemes.
- Global Business Mobility route: This will be introduced in Spring 2022 and will be a single sponsored route intended to simplify the UK immigration offering for businesses by bringing together, reforming and expanding a number of existing routes that exist for this purpose (for example, the Intra-company Transfer visa). Again, this will be one for businesses to watch.
- Family and settlement routes: The family, private life and settlement routes will be simplified with a more streamlined application process so that it is clear to applicants what they need to demonstrate and how.
Fully digital system
A phased approach will be taken to move to a fully digital system with the aim of making entry to the UK fully digital by the end of 2025.
Border and security
New technology will be rolled out at the border which improves the quality and timeliness of information available at the primary control points for Border Force officers.
Universal permission to travel
The change likely to affect the most travellers is that visitors and transit passengers who do not currently need a visa for short stays as visitors (which includes most EU and US nationals), or who do not already have an immigration status prior to travelling, will be required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) as an additional security measure. This is similar to systems already in place in other countries such as the US which requires particular travellers, including UK citizens, to obtain an ESTA before travel. In her statement, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel has said “Our new fully digital border will provide the ability to count people in and out of the country, giving us control over who comes to the UK.” The ETA scheme will be in place by the end of 2024 with the Home Office expecting to process up to 30 million applications per year. The cost of such an application is yet to be confirmed, though it has been reported that this may be around £9 (which is consistent with the ESTA costs for travelling to the US). Although this is a modest fee, the potential revenue stream for the Government is significant; notwithstanding this, however, there have been no suggestion that existing visa fees (which are some of the most expensive in the world) will come down as a result.
A great deal of this content has already been announced and, as such, the 38-page long document does not contain many surprises. Perhaps what is surprising is the pace of change, with such a key policy statement being made less than six months after the end of free movement. What remains to be seen is whether the Government will be able to meet its own deadlines and implement the many changes it has promised within the timescales. For businesses, however, the message is clear; the pace of change when it comes to immigration compliance shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
If you have any questions about the end of free movement or how these changes will impact your business, please contact a member of our Business Immigration team.
