LONDON: The UK government will reimburse visa fees incurred by fast-growing companies when they recruit talent from abroad, in an effort to make Britain a friendlier environment for technology firms.
So-called “scale-up” companies in the digital and tech, life sciences, and clean energy sectors will be eligible for refunds on visa application fees they’ve covered for their staff, which cost between £819 and £1,865 per employee, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said yesterday in a statement.
The government said it would also speed up the process by which companies can obtain a UK “Expansion Worker” sponsor licence, which allows overseas firms to send staff to the United Kingdom in order to establish operations there.
The measures come as the Labour government seeks to fend off criticism that during almost two years in power it’s made the United Kingdom a less attractive place to do business, after reforming the immigration system and ramping up taxes on employers.
Such policy changes have partly been blamed for a rise in joblessness and sluggish economic growth.
Last year, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said it was concerned about the United Kingdom’s ability to attract and retain talented workers, given the high visa costs faced by employers and their overseas recruits, with some applicants stumping up in excess of £10,000 across different fees.
“We are backing the United Kingdom’s most ambitious firms to start, scale, and stay here, with the finance, talent and support they need to succeed,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said.
The immigration fee refunds would be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, a spokesperson for DBT told Bloomberg.
One business would be able to claim a maximum of £5,000 per employee and a total of £25,000 in a year, with funding coming from the department’s existing budget.
Eligible high-growth overseas companies seeking to obtain an Expansion Worker sponsor licence will have to apply to the Office for Investment, which can then ask the Home Office to issue such a licence in around 10 days, rather than the current period of several weeks, the spokesperson said.
The business department also said yesterday that it would build a “concierge service” within the government for the United Kingdom’s very top scale-up businesses, to ensure they are receiving any support they’re eligible for.
For those on the next rung down, the government is tendering for a private sector partner to help build a “pipeline pilot”, the department said.
This will be a platform designed to put fast-growing companies in touch with lenders, investors, specialist talent and other potentially helpful contacts.
“If we want the next generation of world-changing firms to be built in Britain, we must make Britain the best place in the world not only to start a company but, crucially, to scale one,” said Business Secretary Peter Kyle.
“We are partnering directly with high-growth firms to give them the support, finance, talent, and connections they need to scale here in the United Kingdom and create jobs right across the country.”
Last year, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a raft of changes to the government’s immigration rules, including doubling the baseline time over which a person must be living in the United Kingdom in order to claim settled status to 10 years.
While well-paid employees will be able to shave that timeline down to three years under the changes, Members of Parliament from the centrist Liberal Democrat party as well as immigrant rights organisations have criticised the government for making the United Kingdom seem less welcoming to migrants. — Bloomberg
