According to a news update on the UK’s Border and Immigration Agency website today, the UK has given 11 countries, South Africa being one of them, until the end of the year to convince the UK why they should not impose stricter visa regulations on them.

For months the UK has been working on imposing stricter visa regulations and tightening their immigration system to decrease abuse of the system and to increase the flow of needed and sought after migrants into their country.

The changes implemented have included the introduction of dedicated Visa Facilitation Service offices around the world (4 in SA) that have been tasked with the role of collating the biometric date of all visa applicants.

According to the BIA website, this implementation has resulted in the collection of 2 million sets of fingerprints and also brought to light nearly ‘…3000 attempted identity swaps’, which has proved the system infinitely valuable in the strengthening of the UK’s borders.

At the end of June 2008 the UK introduced the first in its new ‘Tier’ immigration system (which works on a points based system similar to that used successfully by Australia) by implementing the new Tier 1 scheme and removing, amongst other visas, the HSMP, the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme, the International Graduate Scheme, Business Persons and Innovators.

It seems that the latest in their immigration clean up is the warning of requiring individuals from these 11 countries to apply for a visa to even visit this UK – thus increasing the amount of biometric data collected and decreasing the level of fraudulent activities, whilst at the same time increasing costs and drastically reducing free movement between SA and the UK.

The UK has undertaken a Visa Waiver Test against all non-European countries and reviewed them according to the levels of risk they pose to the UK in terms of illegal immigration, crime, security, etc. The results of this test have sadly shown that SA, along with the 10 other listed countries, show a strong case for the implementation of these visa regimes against them.

In order for SA not to be a part of this new visa regime they will have to show the UK government, over the next 6 months, what they can do and will do to reduce the level of risk they pose to the UK in relation to these criteria.

Border and Immigration Minister Mr Liam Byrne said:

‘The Government will now work with these countries over the next six months to reduce the risk they pose. If they are able to show evidence of change there will be no need to introduce a visa regime. No final decisions will be made until early 2009.’

There are many people currently talking with “authority” on the subject of South Africa and the upcoming changes to the Two-Year Working Holiday Scheme.  The only known fact at the moment is that the UK and South African authorities are currently in discussions about the matter.  No decision has been made whether or not South Africa will participate in the scheme.

The last changes we saw in the Two-Year Working Holiday Scheme were the ministerial statement of February 2005 restricting the total length of time that can be spent in employment to 12 months.

Currently the UK immigration system is undergoing an overhaul and we are seeing the implementation of a points-based system similar to those in use in Australia and Canada.  But what does this has to do with South Africans and the Two-Year Working Holiday?

The new points-based system is launched in a phased manner.  It consists of five tiers and sub-categories.  In November 2008 it is planned for the Tier Five subcategory, Youth Mobility, to launch.  The Youth Mobility will replace the current Two-Year Working Holiday Scheme.

The ground rules for the Youth Mobility Scheme are:

1. Each year the UK will publish a list of the countries that qualify for the scheme, together with the number of places on the scheme that they have allocated to each country.
2. A participating country will sponsor their nationals on the scheme, the said Government will either be automatically licensed to issue certificates of sponsorship or the country will be deemed as low risk and will be eligible for deemed sponsorship.
3. The migrant needs to be aged 18 to 30 and must be able to support themselves financially.  You will need to demonstrate sufficient funds for the first two months following arrival in the UK (£1600)
4. The migrant must have no dependent children;
5. Must not have previously spent time in the UK as a working holidaymaker.
6. Spouses and partners will have to qualify and obtain entry clearance in their own right under the scheme.
7. The migrant can enter the UK for a period of up to 24 months and can take lawful work for as much of their stay as they wish.

Transitional arrangements for the Youth Mobility Scheme:

• Migrants who have been granted entry clearance as a working holidaymaker and;
• Those who have already been granted leave to enter the UK for periods over six months as working holiday makers;
• Will be able to enter and re-enter the UK and complete their periods of leave.

South Africa is losing professionals in droves as they up stakes and move to work in other countries.
Newspapers such as South Africa's The Times are coming out with some statistics that should make the country quake: an estimated one qualified engineer is leaving every day (according to The Engineering Council of South Africa) and in a survey of 1700 health professionals, half of them hope to leave the country within five years.

Crime, career prospects, earning power, the Eskom power crunch and schooling (some students are barred entry into university because of the  race quotas) are the reasons for professionals leaving; also applications for business visas have soared, meaning entrepreneurs are taking their inspiration – and cash – elsewhere..

All this is good news for immigration consultants and removals companies, who report business is up by, in some cases, 600% over last year.
Australia is top of the list in terms of favoured destination, but professionals are apparently becoming less fussy over where they end up – and desirable countries include New Zealand, Canada, Britain and the US.
South Africa's loss is Britain's gain because, like all EU countries, it needs professionals, particularly in IT, engineering and the health services.
The EU needs an estimated 20m extra workers to fill gaps in industry, and is introducing a blue card work permit scheme to make it easier for skilled professionals to immigrate. A global survey of 750 CIOs and CEOs in February 2008 said biggest worry is staffing problems and a crisis in IT skills.