By Jason Martindale, Senior Director, Radius
The UK, known for its restrictive immigration laws, badly wants to stimulate growth in its
Though the initiative is geared toward UK businesses, it also applies to American businesses established in the UK if they obtain sponsor licenses from the country’s immigration authorities.
How It Works
The program, known as the Tech Nation Visa Scheme, was started by Tech City, a government-funded organization established to help tech startups in the country, particularly in its northern cities. Previous efforts have drawn few applicants and even fewer foreign workers. Tech City told the Telegraph that it had received a total of only 19 applications and approved just 17. It has the capacity for 200 per year.
The new program, started in November 2015, has expanded its predecessor’s scope after Tech City received complaints from the tech community, which says it was not supplying the additional workers they need to scale up and compete. Tech City loosened some requirements and promised to provide more help to guide candidates through the application process.
Applicants need to have a proven track record in the technology sector and demonstrate “exceptional” achievements. Software coders and cybersecurity experts are encouraged to apply because of their technical skills, and the country is also seeking technology-oriented business specialists, particularly those who have successfully taken a company public. Workers must agree to serve in one of seven northern UK cities (Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield or Sunderland).
A key provision that sets the new program apart from a previous version is team applications. Groups of up to five can now apply together, enabling Britain to poach fistfuls of talent from other tech hubs in the fiercely competitive sector. Though it’s no Silicon Valley, The UK hosts 17 of the 40 European tech companies that received billion-dollar valuations in the last year, including TransferWise, Shazam, and JustEat.
Other Initiatives
Foreign tech workers can also enter the country by obtaining skilled worker visas, which are available to expert and well-paid workers in many fields besides technology. But unlike the US, whose H-1B visa program has an annual cap of 65,000 (with an additional 20,000 advance-degree exemptions), the UK has a cap of 20,700 for importing workers outside of Europe, and the 2015 limit was reached in June.
Another initiative intended to ignite the country’s tech sector is the Scale-Up Institute, started by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and an angel investor. The nonprofit organization, backed by Google and the London Stock Exchange, aims to help UK tech businesses raise money and dodge red tape. Faster growth in the tech sector could add $57 billion to the country’s economy and create 238,000 new jobs in three years, the organization says.
Balancing Act
Balancing the need for foreign workers with social and political concerns about immigration can be tough. The UK has taken a harder line on immigration than Germany and other nations on the continent, and despite the new tech program, is unlikely to change its stance, especially in light of recent events.
The Tech Visa Scheme went into effect as scheduled on November 19th, but there is no way of knowing whether the program would have gained the support it needed if the Paris terrorist attacks, which occurred just six days before, had come earlier. Security experts now worry that the UK could be the next terrorist target, and the country remains in a high state of alert.
On the other hand, a growing number of pundits believe that future wars will largely be fought on the internet, making a country’s expertise in technology, particularly in cybersecurity, of paramount importance to its defense. It is possible that the immigrants the UK so cautiously brings in now to strengthen its tech sector could someday give it the edge it needs to defend against its worst fears.