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.’

A new system has been introduced which will help deal with Highly Skilled migrants entering the UK. 

Tier 1(General) replaced the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) on June 30 affecting those who want to immigrate to the UK as a general highly skilled migrant. In effect, Tier 1 (General) is similar to HSMP however it also has 3 sub-categories to become more understandable, Tier 1 (Investors), Tier 1 (Entrepreneurs) and Tier 1 (Post-Study Work). Overall this is part of the new five-tier points based immigration system.

The new ideology works on a points system not dis-similar to HSMP, depending on age, past earnings, UK experience, and education. A notable change from the old method is that Tier 1 appears to be stricter than before as the decision making is now more structured based and less open to interpretation.  There are also 2 added categories scoring points for maintenance requirement and the English Language requirement.

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.

The Smooth Group is aiming to accelerate a global conversation about the issues, adventures and challenges involved in coming to work in the UK with the launch of this fully social blogsite.

'People from all over the world are coming in droves to the UK to study and work. Some seek an exciting adventure, others look forward to a professional challenge. But whatever the motivation, all newcomers have much to learn and take on board before they arrive in the UK, "said Nerys Roberts, group commercial director, The Smooth Group. 'We've created our blog to be a virtual meeting place where people can discuss their plans, exchange tips and find out the latest news and expert information on UK immigration."

Immigration is always a hot topic with strong opinion on both sides.  All are welcome on the Smooth Group blog.  Brain drain, job market trends, immigration law and tips and hints on life in the UK are all bound to be discussed as are some of the more mundane, but important minutia of life (how do I open a bank account?).

Nerys Roberts  says, 'We encourage people to use our blog's comments feature. With it, you can talk to travellers from around the world and learn from their experiences.  We'll continue to post expert opinion and advice on visa and other immigration issues as they arise so that our blog will become a one-stop-shop for anyone thinking about coming to the UK for work.  We look forward to hearing people's views and opinions and are excited to become part of a global conversation.' 

In addition to the blogsite, The Smooth Group has a Facebook and is LinkedIn. Participating in these, two of the world's most popular, social networks adds value to the conversations taking place on the Smooth blog by providing a broad context and larger community.

Gordon Brown has relaxed immigration restrictions on atomic engineers as part of a series of measures to clean up the environment and curb crude oil prices.

At a recent press conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Gordon Brown told oil producing nations that the UK is determined to wean itself off oil dependency by expanding its nuclear power industry and developing other renewable forms of energy. The Government is pushing to increase the amount of electricity generated by nuclear power plants which currently account for a fifth of supply. Brown has been shmoosing companies to build new plants and has relaxed immigration restrictions for atomic engineers. 

Brown said: “Our commitment to the biggest expansion of nuclear power in Europe is now clear and definitive.”  

The changes are part of a ‘new deal’ Brown proposed to oil producing nations on behalf of the nations of the European Union. If Brown gets his way, this could see nations such as Saudi Arabia, Norway, The United Arab Emirates and Qatar recycling over $3 trillion they have reaped from a surge in oil prices into Western European nations.  

Brown explained Saudi Arabia and Norway are working with Britain on carbon capture programs that pump fumes blamed for damaging the earth’s climate for storage underground.  He added that the United Arab Emirates are also talking to the UK about investing in nuclear projects and Qatar is also seeking to invest in Britain’s energy industry.

The UK government is really flexing its muscle over illegal immigration and on June 19 Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced a series of measures in a document entitled, uncompromisingly ‘Enforcing the Deal’. The deal, presumably, is fulfilling the government’s promise of tightening up on illegal immigration.

Up to 7,500 UK Border Control Agency officers will be organised into 70 to 80 local immigration teams to feed off local knowledge and get to the heart of the problem.

Professional organisations involved in the trade of helping illegal immigrants to get into the UK will also be targeted. The Guardian reported that on the same day as the document was released, there were a series of raids of bogus colleges and a firm of solicitors supposedly issuing false education certificates to illegal entrants.

Other weapons in the BCA’s armoury are heavy penalities for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrant workers. The document included the announcement that once fined (£10,000 per illegal worker), businesses are named and shamed on the BCA’s website. 

It’s not fair, said the little guys in some news reports, they should hit the big boys.  But they are, after all, guilty and moreover, easy prey – and easier to find given this beefed up, more localised form of monitoring that is in league with the local police force and local authority and involves information sharing amongst bodies such as utilities companies. The chances of being caught out have never been greater.

The BCA already removes an immigration offender every eight minutes from the UK. That looks set to increase once these new measures coming into force. Employers and employees should beware, this is a very dangerous time to be hiring or working illegally in the UK.

Migrationwatch has revealed Government figures show more than 2m people have emigrated to the UK between 1991 and 2006.

Supporters of immigration have tried to make out that the majority of these have come from EU member states and that they will return home once their home economies have improved. The same supporters argue there is no point in immigration control, as they do not apply to EU citizens.

However, these figures show only 8%, around 200,000, of the 2.3m migrants were from Eastern Europe.

Chairman of Migrationwatch, Sir Andrew Green said: “The reality is that those who come and stay are almost entirely from countries subject to immigration control. What we need therefore is effective control.”

A UK Border Agency spokesman said sweeping changes were being introduced to the immigration system: “The Australian style points-based  system will cover six out of every ten migrants wanting to come to the UK.” Other measures will include a single border force to guard UK ports and compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals.

The figures also showed 212,000 people had left the UK, mostly going to Australia and EU countries as well as the US, New Zealand and Canada.