Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is eager to transform America’s setbacks into a triumph for the United Kingdom.
As President Donald Trump continues to expel immigrant workers from the United States and discourages the employment of foreigners as part of his anti-immigrant policies, Starmer is developing strategies to attract top scientists, academics, and digital professionals to the United Kingdom from around the globe, as reported by The Financial Times.
These initiatives are being guided by Starmer’s ‘global talent task force,’ which is working on several proposals and is chaired by Varun Chandra, Starmer’s business adviser, along with science minister Lord Patrick Vallance, according to the publication.
In recent months, as Trump has overseen a crackdown on immigrants and the rise of far-right extremism in the United States, scientists and academics have increasingly migrated to other countries such as Canada and China. Observers have noted that Trump’s anti-immigrant stance has become a self-defeating strategy.
However, Trump’s self-defeating strategy presents opportunities for others.
One of the proposals being considered by Starmer’s task force is the elimination of visa fees for high-level professionals, according to FT.
“We’re discussing individuals who have graduated from the world’s top five universities or have received prestigious awards. We’re contemplating the possibility of reducing costs to zero,” an official informed the newspaper.
Such a move would starkly contrast with Trump’s decision to raise the application fee for an H-1B visa to $100,000, a visa utilized by technology companies to recruit specialized foreign workers to the United States.
While this proposal has been under consideration for some time, Trump’s decision has provided “momentum” for those advocating for reform of the UK’s high-end visa system to stimulate growth ahead of the November 26 Budget, a source revealed to the newspaper.
An official characterized the existing visa system as a “bureaucratic nightmare” and stated that the forthcoming process is not intended to lower the standards; rather, “it’s about attracting the brightest and best to Britain. There is consensus among the government on this matter.”
In stark contrast to the zero-free proposals being considered, the UK’s global talent visa, which was introduced in 2020, currently requires an application fee of £766 ($1,032), with partners and children incurring the same charge. Additionally, applicants typically must pay a health surcharge of £1,035 ($1,396) for each individual.
