Temporary cap on non-EU migration diluted already?

LONDON - The proposed temporary cap on non-EU migration may have already been diluted in the face of pressure from political parties, businesses and universities, it is learnt.

The “flexibility” in the cap wanted by Liberal Democrats like Business Secretary Vince Cable and businesses, will mean that internal transfers of staff by multinational companies - which make up 45 percent of the total covered - will initially be exempt, according to The Guardian.

The interim limit will cut current numbers of skilled workers in tiers one and two of the points based system by five percent or 1,300 to 18,700 over the next nine months.

The interim measures will also cap the number of tier-one migrants at current levels and raising the number of points needed by non-EU workers who come to do highly skilled jobs from 95 to 100.

The newspaper quotes from a home office consultation paper Monday on the operation of the annual cap that raises the prospect that all new skilled migrants from outside Europe would qualify for a higher number of points under the points-based system if they agree to take out private health insurance.

The consultation paper also asks whether a quarterly auction should be held with skilled migrant visas going to the companies that put in the highest bids. But it makes clear that visas are more likely to be decided on an American-style ‘first come, first served basis’ or with each quarter’s visas drawn from a pool of applicants.

Other exemptions from the limit, to be imposed next month, will include ministers of religion and elite sports people - ruling out any restriction on the number of overseas players in the Premier football league, the newspaper says.

(Venkata Vemuri can be contacted at venkata.v@ians.in)