Yesterday’s Spring Budget 2023 indicated upcoming changes to the business visitor visa requirements and the addition of construction workers to the Shortage Occupation List. Additional support for Ukraine Visa Scheme holders to access and excel in employment was also announced.
Business visitor visa
The changes expected in autumn 2023 will include expanding the range of short-term business activities that can be carried out for periods of up to six months, as well as a review of permitted paid engagements. A wider range of activities linked to negotiations with trade partners will also be considered by the government in the coming months.
The changes will of course also apply to non-visa national business visitors, such as those from the EU or America.
Construction workers
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) review of the shortage occupation list will conclude later this year. An interim report on the construction and hospitality sector was published yesterday.
The construction and hospitality sectors account for 6% and 7% of all workforce jobs respectively. Currently, 30% of all jobs in construction are also self-employed. Self-employed workers are not eligible for the Skilled Worker visa route.
Five construction occupations be added to the shortage occupation list sometime before the summer parliamentary recess, which will allow sponsoring companies to pay workers in the roles 20% less than the mandatory minimum salary for sponsorship; £20,960 rather than £26,200. The roles are:
- Bricklayers and masons
- Roofers, roof tilers and slaters
- Carpenters and joiners
- Plasters and dryliners; and
- Construction and building trades not elsewhere classified.
But aside from a slightly lower application fee of £479, rather than £625 (or £719 if you are extending your visa from inside the UK), there is little additional benefit. Employers will still be subject to the Immigration Skills Charge (up to £1,000 per year). And there is no exemption from the English language requirement, which for many people is the real barrier to the visa, not the costs or salary.
Ukraine Visa Scheme employment support
There was also an announcement of an extension of the support provided to Ukrainians who arrived in the UK under the Ukraine Visa Schemes. £11.5 million will be provided for intensive English language courses and employment support for up to 10,000 people.
The government say that “this new funding is expected to boost the number of Ukrainians entering the labour market for the first time, as well as helping those already employed into higher-skilled roles”. With past reputation in mind, it is unclear whether government departments are working together to effectively provide long-term support for Ukrainian nationals, with ongoing visa scheme support being announced in the future, or whether this is a short-term goal ahead of an election year.
As with all government announcements of this kind, we will have to wait and see how they work in practice, and whether their implementation will be useful to those utilising these visa routes.
We will have to wait until at least the end of 2023 to see whether the number of construction workers choosing to apply for Skilled Worker visa’s increases with the addition of these roles to the Shortage Occupation List, though with the English language requirement still in place, it is likely that many will still find they cannot enter the trade as a sponsored worker.
The changes to the business visitor visa parameters might be more immediately welcomed, as more people are having to battle with the visitor visa work limitations post-Brexit. The visitor visa rules remain up to broad interpretation for now, and we await to see how these will be amended in the autumn statement of changes to the immigration rules.
