A detailed introduction to the development of British immigration policy

Looking back at the development of British immigration policy, Britain belongs to a "non-immigrant country" in the traditional sense. However, in recent years, in order to attract more overseas talents and enhance international competitiveness, Britain has also begun to constantly adjust its immigration policy and relax the restrictions on skilled talents moving to the UK.

Like other developed countries in Europe, Britain is also troubled by the aging population, and coupled with the relative shortage of high-tech talents, how to attract overseas talents has become an increasingly important issue for the British government.

To this end, the British Home Office decided in 2002 to follow the green card policies of the United States, Australia and other countries and take corresponding measures to attract skilled immigrants. From June 5438+ 10 of that year, Britain began to try out the "high-skilled talents immigration policy" to attract people with special skills and work experience to work in Britain.

This policy makes it easier for technicians to immigrate to Britain, and compared with countries such as the United States, this policy has fewer restrictions on applicants. For example, there are almost no hard and fast rules on the age, occupation and language ability of high-tech immigrants.

For technical talents, as long as they have a 1 year work contract, they can apply for permanent residency similar to a green card after four years of work, and they can apply for a British passport and become British citizens after five years. After successful application, the applicant's spouse and children can also apply for high-tech immigrant visas to realize family migration.

After a year's trial, this policy has achieved good results, especially helping to alleviate the shortage of talents in industries such as medical staff and IT technicians. Therefore, since 2003, the British government has implemented it as a formal immigration policy. At the same time, the government has also opened up the immigration policy for investment and entrepreneurship, and enterprises established in the UK can also get permanent residency and immigration status first.

Foreigners with entrepreneurial immigrant visas need to prove that they have created 10 permanent jobs in the UK after three years of investment, or earned at least 5 million pounds (about 52.38 million yuan) before they can apply for permanent residency.

According to statistics, in 20/2-20/3, the total number of business visas issued to foreigners in Britain increased by 87%, reaching 973, higher than in 20/2-20/3 and 20/2-0/68.

Jill Turner, director of an immigration service company in the UK, said that 20 years ago, the dream of young professionals from emerging markets was to get a green card and work in Wall Street or Silicon Valley. Today's London is equally exciting. Ambitious and talented foreigners are pouring into Britain to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the British economic recovery, especially in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services. (The information in this article comes from Xinhuanet)