5 .2 Immig ratio n co ntro l is the respo nsibility o f the Immig ratio n and N atio nality Department (IN D) o f the Ho me O ffice; the wo rk permit system is administered by the O verseas Labo ur Service o f DfEE. DfEE is also respo nsible fo r po licy (but no t the entry) o f o verseas students. Entry clearance is administered by the Ho me O ffice/ FCO Jo int Entry Clearance Unit.
5 .3 At present, mig rants (by which, in this co ntext, we mean peo ple who are co ming fo r lo ng er than a sho rt visit) may g ain entry to the UK thro ug h the fo llo wing channels:
● the wo rk permit system
● a number o f smaller wo rk-related categ o ries (including the wo rking ho lidaymaker scheme, business perso ns, etc.)
● as students
● the asylum system
● the family settlement system.
5 .4 O f co urse, no t all these mig rants either wish to o r are entitled to settle permanently in the UK. As set o ut earlier, so me remain fo r o nly a few mo nths; o thers fo r years; and so me settle permanently. O thers may arrive initially as visito rs, and subsequently decide that they wo uld like to stay lo ng er, either leg ally o r o therwise. In additio n, British citizens living abro ad have unrestricted rig hts to return to and settle in the UK. It sho uld no t be fo rg o tten that mo re than 8 0 millio n peo ple entered the UK in 1 9 9 8 , primarily British citizens returning and visito rs, nearly do uble the fig ure o f a decade ag o . O f these, o nly 0 .5 per cent were mig rants.
EEA natio nals
5 .5 N atio nals o f EEA member states have relatively free access to live and wo rk in the UK. This has lo ng been the case fo r the Irish; o ther member states have g ained this rig ht as EU sing le market leg islatio n has develo ped. This rig ht is no t co mpletely unqualified: EEA natio nals are suppo sed to have sufficient funds to suppo rt themselves witho ut reco urse to public funds, and so me po sts in the Civil Service are restricted to British citizens o nly.
W o rk pe rmits
5 .6 The wo rk permit system aims to strike a balance between enabling emplo yers to recruit o r transfer skilled peo ple fro m no n-EEA member states and pro tecting jo b o ppo rtunities fo r resident wo rkers. Principal features include the fo llo wing :
● emplo yers apply fo r permits which are g ranted if the criteria are met: there are no limits o r quo tas o n the number o f permits issued
● the criteria are based aro und jo bs requiring relatively hig h level skills
● the emplo yer needs to sho w there is no suitable EEA wo rker. But this is waived in many circumstances, including kno wn sho rtag e areas, intra-co mpany transfers, bo ard level po sts and po sts asso ciated with inward investment
● the immig ratio n autho rities g enerally accept a wo rk permit as evidence fo r a decisio n to admit an o verseas natio nal to the UK
● there is relatively little po st-entry co ntro l o n the type o f wo rk that wo rk permit ho lders actually do , o r o n switching between jo bs (especially within the same co mpany).
5 .7 The wo rk permit reg ime was subjected to a tho ro ug h review anno unced in N o vember 1 9 9 9 . As a result, a rang e o f measures to streamline and simplify the system were published in the Budg et, in March 2 0 0 0 . A number o f these measures came in fo rce o n 2 O cto ber 2 0 0 0 , including chang es to the skills thresho ld required fo r a wo rk permit, and simpler pro cedures fo r extending a permit. Thus, it is no w po ssible fo r g raduates to be elig ible fo r wo rk permits with no wo rk experience fo r skills in hig h demand, and the key wo rker categ o ry has been replaced with simpler pro cedures fo r wo rkers with intermediate skills. In additio n, the maximum leng th o f a wo rk permit has been increased fro m fo ur to five years, and a numb er o f new a ppro a ches will b e pilo ted (including a self-certifica tio n scheme fo r multina tio na l co mpanies pilo ted fro m O cto ber 2 0 0 0 ).
5 .8 Aro und 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 wo rk permit applicatio ns are expected this year, up fro m abo ut 8 0 ,0 0 0 applicatio ns in 1 9 9 9 (o f which o ver 9 0 % were appro ved). N umbers o f applicatio ns have been rising steadily since the early 1 9 9 0 s. After fo ur years, wo rk permit ho lders have been entitled to apply fo r settlement but, in practice, a relatively small pro po rtio n appear to settle permanently in the UK. Fo r example in 1 9 9 8 , 3 ,1 6 0 wo rk permit ho lders settled in the UK (altho ug h we do no t kno w ho w many settled via o ther ro utes – fo r example by marrying a UK citizen).
5 .9 The dependants o f wo rk permit ho lders are entitled to remain in the UK during the perio d fo r which the permit is va lid, pro viding they c a n b e suppo rted witho ut rec o urse to pub lic funds.2 0
They ha ve full entitlement to wo rk (if their spo use’s wo rk permit is fo r mo re than a year), even if the jo b that they then fill wo uld no t meet the wo rk permit criteria. In 1 9 9 8 2 0 ,2 0 0 dependants entered with wo rk permit ho lders. The wo rk permit system is discussed in mo re detail in Bo x 5 .1 .