UK visa cap on non-EU immigration from 19 July

United Kingdom, 19th July: UK immigration department has announced the introduction of an annual cap on non-EU immigrants seeking UK visas with effect from July 19, 2010 onwards.

Hence, as per the new move, there will be a restriction on the total number of applications allowed for UK visas in a year. The limit has been fixed to 24,100 UK visas up to April 2011 from 19th July 2010.

The aim of this new temporary cap by UK immigration is to limit the number of immigrants hailing from non-EU (Eastern Europe) coming to the UK till a permanent cap in introduced by the UK immigration department in the near future.

Meanwhile, the new interim cap on UK immigration will not have any effect on foreign companies having intention to do business in Britain, the UK government has clarified. Speaking about the new UK visa cap, UK Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the economic recovery plans of the UK government aim to allure and retain inward foreign investments.

Mr. Cameron was addressing a gathering of nearly 100 major UK foreign investors.

The new rules for non-EU migrants seeking UK immigration will make sure that the interest of foreign investors are not harmed in any way, asserted Vince Cable, the UK Secretary of State recently. Foreign investments in the UK result in bringing highly skilled professionals coming to the UK on different UK visas including intra-company transfers (ITC), Cable added.

The annual limit on UK visas for non-EU migrants will be divided into monthly caps. And the UK immigration department will not allow any application for UK visa in that month once the monthly limit for the UK visas has been reached. Also, all applications received by UK immigration department will be kept in the sequence in which they have been received by the department.

For UK Tier 1(General), the interim limits introduced by the UK immigration department will not apply to in-country applications and extension applications for UK immigration.

For UK Tier 2(General), there will be a limit on the number of sponsorship certificates issued by any employer in the UK. Also, applicants in the UK switching into Tier 2(General) from another category of immigration will be affected by the interim limit while Tier 2(General) extension applicants will remain unaffected.