How to apply for a British green card?

From June 5438 to/kloc-0 to October 28, 2003, the British Home Office reformed the current immigration system and implemented the high-tech immigration policy with reference to the relevant systems of the United States and Canada and the "green card" system. This is the first time that Britain has opened its immigration policy to the outside world in 30 years. After the implementation of this policy, a large number of skilled immigrants will be able to work legally in the UK. Compared with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Britain's immigration policy is much simpler, looser and faster. At present, there are no restrictions on the age, occupational category and English level of high-tech immigrants in Britain. Anyone who meets the requirements can apply for family immigration to the UK.

Because it has just started, few people know it. Generally, immigration applications can be approved in about one and a half months. After obtaining immigration qualification, new immigrants are free to find jobs or start businesses in the UK. After four years, they will become permanent residents in Britain, and they can apply for British passports and become British citizens in the fifth year.

The British government's reform of the current immigration system has two main purposes: one is to solve the shortage of skilled workers in Britain, and the other is to open up legal immigration channels, so that international population smuggling groups lose the "market" for making huge profits through illegal immigration activities.

Britain is facing the problem of labor shortage in many fields. Some are universal, such as the lack of doctors and nursing staff in public hospitals, teachers in primary and secondary schools, and workers and service personnel in manufacturing and retail industries; Some problems are regional, such as the lack of IT talents in London and southeast England. Other problems are seasonal. For example, many farms in Britain can't hire enough people to pick fruits during the busy farming season. The new immigration policy will be linked to the domestic economic demand, providing a legal way controlled by the government for those who want to find a job or start a business in Britain.

According to the American-style "green card" system, eligible applicants will become permanent residents in the UK after working in the UK for four years. In the past 30 years, legal immigrants in Britain only included those who had relatives or spouses in Britain, and those who had assets of at least 250,000 pounds and invested in Britain. Except for EU countries, it is difficult for ordinary applicants from other regions to legally enter the UK. So some smuggling gangs took advantage of the situation, organized smuggling activities, secretly imported illegal workers into Britain, and profited from it.

The British "Guardian" once conducted a public opinion survey on immigration and "asylum" policy. The survey results show that most British people support the government to implement a new immigration policy and allow a certain number of skilled immigrants to enter the UK. The British business community also welcomes the "green card" system, which allows employers to choose the talents they need directly from a group of "ready-made" legal immigrants. British public opinion believes that an open immigration policy will not only help Britain attract overseas talents, but also alleviate the national tax and social welfare problems brought about by the aging population. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, Britain needs to introduce 654.38 million immigrants every year to maintain a certain level of social welfare, otherwise the retirement age of the next generation will be postponed to 75. Therefore, the British "green card" is not only related to foreigners who want to work in Britain, but also closely related to the lives of ordinary British people.

Compared with the United States, there is a serious imbalance between the number of illegal workers and the number of legal immigrants in Britain. On average, Britain grants about 73,000 applicants legal immigration every year. However, nearly 654.38 million people applied for "asylum" last year, most of them were illegal immigrants; At present, there are nearly160,000 immigrants in the United States, of which 5 million are illegal workers. After the implementation of the "green card" plan, the number of legal immigrants in Britain will increase in recent years.