Alison Hunter

Global Talent in the UK

13th December 2022 By Alison Hunter

One of the endorsing bodies, TechNation has recently published its report about the Global Talent visas which are endorsed by TechNation. It includes some very interesting statistics:
• Roughly 2,500 Global Talent visas have been granted in this category;
• A quarter of the Global Talent migrants own their own company;
• 73% of investment in this sector comes from overseas;
• 18% of UK Tech scale ups have at least one non-UK founder; and
• The overall sector valuation is considered to be roughly £1 trillion.

In short, the government sees the technology sector as a growth industry and wants to continue to attract highly skilled tech professionals. Currently, the UK is home to the third most valuable tech economy in the world, behind only the United States and China. The areas span a wide range of industries, including health, finance and energy.
In total, there are now roughly five million people working in UK tech start-ups and scale-ups which is a two million increase over the figures in 2019. Not only are the jobs in tech occupations, but the industry also provides opportunities to people in HR, legal, finance and sales.

Over a 120 different countries are represented in the applicants for the Global Talent tech visa. It is entirely likely that demand for highly skilled tech talent will continue on an upward trend in the future, particularly as domestic supply is unlikely to be able to fulfil the necessary demand for jobs.
Applying for a Global Talent visa is a two-stage process. The first stage is to present an application to an endorsing body, such as TechNation, with evidence to show that you are a leader in your field or that you have the potential to become a leader in your field. Although this may sound daunting, but clear guidance and support means that all sorts of people with very different ideas can make successful applications.

If you are interested in pursuing this route, we have expertise in guiding people through the Global Talent visa structures and helping them get endorsements from Tech Nation but also Arts Council England and the endorsing bodies for Academics. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or at Alison@gryklaw.com.

Global Talent – How talented do you have to be?

26th November 2021 By Alison Hunter

The so-called “prestigious prize” visa route was launched in May of this year and was intended to make it easier for academics or researchers to apply to come to the United Kingdom. At the time of the launch of the visa, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, stated:

Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK. This is exactly what our new point based immigration system was designed for – attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they have come from.

It has been widely reported in the Press recently that not a single scientist has applied under the fast track visa route which was intended for prize award winners in science, engineering, the humanities and medicine. Many scientists have been dismissive of the scheme stating it is far too narrow and would only allow a tiny handful of talented people to apply.

But does the Global Talent visa allow people who are not necessarily at the ‘pinnacle’ of the scientific world or creative world to apply? The answer to this is a resounding ‘yes’.

The Global Talent visa allows people who are leaders in their field or potential leaders in their field to apply and be endorsed by a designated endorsement body such as Tech Nation, the British Academy, the Royal Society for Science and Medicine, or Arts Council England. The beauty of the visa is that an individual does not need to be sponsored by their employer and has access to the labour market in the United Kingdom as an employee or on a self employed basis. So for example, academics can work at a university without being tied to them. Actors, performers and musicians can develop their careers in the United Kingdom, supporting themselves for example through teaching. Those endorsed by Tech Nation may have technical skills or business skills in the field of technology and can come here to develop businesses or run their start ups. In short, a large number of people are able to qualify, even if they are towards the beginning of their careers.

The process is a two stage process: an applicant initially applies to the endorsement body and if endorsed can then apply for a visa. This is a category which leads to indefinite leave to remain, although of course there are some criteria that need to be fulfilled before that is possible, including showing that you have worked in your field of expertise in the United Kingdom.

So despite the off putting headlines that nobody has been granted a fast track visa and that you have to be unbelievably talented and experienced, this does not paint the full picture. Successful cases for Global Talent visas have ranged from applicants just leaving university, to people who are well established in the field in which they have built their career. If you fall within the remit of one of the endorsement bodies, it may well be worth you looking at the criteria which they assess against to see if you may be eligible.

We have expertise in submitting applications to the various endorsement bodies and are able to guide applicants through the process. If you would like to discuss a possible application with us further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact Alison@gryklaw.com

EU Settlement Scheme – when to apply?

11th June 2021 By Alison Hunter

The simple answer to that is “now”.

The deadline for most EU/EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme is 30 June 2021. It is important to understand that most EU/EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members need to make an application to ensure they secure their existing rights beyond 30 June 2021. This includes people who hold a permanent residence document or an EEA biometric residence card.

Who does not need to apply?

People who have obtained indefinite leave to remain in the past do not need to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme but may decide that they want to as it will allow them to be registered with the Home Office and given a mechanism to prove their immigration status digitally, which may be useful in the future.

Equally, Irish citizens do not need to apply but may do so if they wish. Irish citizens are allowed to live and work in the United Kingdom going forward purely on the basis of their Irish nationality.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

First and foremost try not to. Remember that an application is submitted on the day that it is triggered on-line, that is to say the day that you press the button on the on-line form to send it to the Home Office. If you need to upload documents after this date that is still possible and the date of application will still be the date that you triggered the application.

However, if you do miss the date, the Home Office has now provided guidance which will allow you to explain why you missed the date and a caseworker can exercise discretion to still grant an application. The best advice is to apply as quickly as possible, with evidence as to why the application is late. The evidence could for example include proof of a medical reason why the application has been delayed.

Applications which can still be made

Although the EU Settlement Scheme deadline is 30 June 2021, there are still plenty of applications that can be made after this date. These include from spouses where the couple were married before 30 December 2020 and from children. Applications can be made for these family members to join an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen in the United Kingdom. The procedures will vary depending on whether the applicant is in the United Kingdom or abroad.

The application

Most applications are straightforward and can be done with the EU Exit app on a smartphone and by completing the on-line form. If you do though need advice, either guiding you through the application, or with questions about applications for family members, please do not hesitate to contact us on contact@gryklaw.com or by telephone 020 7401 6887.

European Update: The Good and the Bad

28th May 2020 By Alison Hunter

On 14 May, the government issued a new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. And once again it included changes to the European Settlement Scheme. Some were small in nature and a tidying up exercise to deal with small omissions or inconsistencies. However, there were two important substantive changes.

The good news is that protection has been extended to those in durable relationships to ensure that if their relationship with a European national breaks down due to domestic violence, they should be able to remain in the United Kingdom in their own right. This comes into force from 4 June 2020.

From 24 August 2020, the rule changes will also allow for dual British and Irish nationals born in Northern Ireland to rely on their Irish nationality to bring dependants to reside with them in the United Kingdom. This allows for a less onerous set of rules to be applied to them, ensuring there is no need for them to fulfil stringent financial requirements, which apply to British people sponsoring their family members.

This was however swiftly followed on 15 May 2020 with some far less welcome news: the new naturalisation guidance clarifies that European citizens who did not hold comprehensive sickness insurance while they were students or self sufficient, or were not exercising a Treaty right during the qualifying period for naturalisation, can be considered to have been in breach of immigration law. This means that if a European national is applying to naturalise having obtained settled status they will still need to show that they fulfilled these requirements during the five year period (or three year period, if married to a British Citizen) before making the application. Unlike under the European Settlement Scheme, where residence in the United Kingdom on its own is sufficient to ensure a grant of status, a successful naturalisation application may need to go beyond mere residence for the qualifying period, if an applicant did not hold pre settled or settled status for part of the period. Home Office caseworkers now have to check whether applicants can be considered to be in breach of immigration law and can request further information to reassure themselves that such time spent in the United Kingdom was ‘on a balance of probabilities’ in accordance with the law. I should add that the guidance also states that it will be possible for caseworkers to waive the requirement on a discretionary basis but without giving any further guidance as to when that would be deemed appropriate.

Given the £1330 fee attached to a naturalisation application, applicants should ensure that they really do qualify before making this payment to the Home Office as only £80 (the cost of the citizenship ceremony) would be reimbursed if the application were refused.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the issues above, we can help. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com

The EU Settlement Scheme: an Update

27th April 2020 By Alison Hunter

As the press reported last week, the Home Office has announced that it has received 3.4 million applications from people seeking to stay in the United Kingdom after Brexit under the EU Settled Status Scheme. The government estimates that the number of EEA and Swiss citizens eligible to remain in the United Kingdom lies between 3.4 million and 3.8 million. Are they thinking ‘job done’?

The Migration Observatory report about the EU settlement scheme clearly sets out the flaws with the way the government is producing data and counting applications made. The Home Office has a very crude system of just counting every application. However, there are very basic problems:

It is not known how many people are eligible to apply and how many still live in the United Kingdom.
One person may have applied for pre-settled status and settled status – this counts as two applications.
There are people who have applied to the scheme but have left the United Kingdom.

What we do know is that the Home Office still has a backlog of 320,000 applications and that inevitably, the applicants who have not yet applied are likely to be the more difficult cases including, for example the citizens in children’s homes, victims of domestic abuse, third country national family members of EU citizens and people who are not able to provide the documentation required by the Home Office. We also know that 300 applications were refused by the Home Office in March 2020.

There is now of course the added problem of Covid-19 with a slow down in the processing of applications at the Home Office due to reduced staffing levels. The telephone line set up to assist applicants with the EU Settlement Scheme is not functioning as the Home Office was not able to provide a safe working environment for its case workers. This means that the only way to get in touch with the EU Settlement Scheme staff is by email. The delays in response time are significant and standard responses often appear to be being sent out without any specific information about individual cases.

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Although it is still possible for EU citizens with passports which are chipped to make applications, non-EEA family members are unable to submit applications as the Home Office is currently not accepting passports. It is therefore not possible to provide identity documents either to the Home Office or to Sopra Steria, the company to which the Home Office has outsourced the initial processing of applications.

There are also some more complex applications which have to be completed on a paper form. The procedure is that the form has to be requested from the Home Office. Previously an applicant was required to phone in and outline their case before a paper form was sent out, which is now not possible. Paper forms can still be requested by email and are then sent to the applicant. The Home Office has reassured us that these applications are still being dealt with, although we know from experience that the delays before the Covid-19 lockdown were significant, and they are only likely to increase now. These applications would normally be sent back to the Home Office with original documentation but we have been informed by a senior case worker at the Home Office that only copies should be sent to the Home Office.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, further delays seem inevitable. There are also likely to be some difficulties ensuring that biometrics are captured as required for the Home Office going forward. One thing that has been stated categorically, is that the EU Settlement Scheme will not be extended beyond June 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you require assistance in connection with the EU Settlement Scheme or any other EU immigration matter, please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact@gryklaw.com.