New Uk Visa To Woo Entrepreneurs

[cashinmattress]

WTF?

Britain will introduce a new category of visa - Entrepreneur Visa - to encourage foreign nationals from India and elsewhere to catalyse economic recovery in the country, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Speaking before businessmen and entrepreneurs, Cameron said not enough was being done to attract the next generation of wealth creators and job makers to Britain.

Referring to recent Home Office research that showed many professionals from India and elsewhere who entered Britain under the highly skilled category were in fact doing unskilled work, he said the Tier one category "was a total failure".

Cameron said: "I can announce today that we will create a new Entrepreneur Visa. These Entrepreneur Visas will mean that if you have a great business idea, and you receive serious investment from a leading investor, you are welcome to set up your business in our country".

He added: "So as we act to bring net migration to Britain down to the tens of thousands, I want this message to be heard loud and clear the whole world over: In every classroom or laboratory where a bright idea is born, every bedroom where a business case is put together, if you've got an idea, if you want to create jobs, and if you have the ambition to build a world beating company here in the UK".

He continued: "We want you; we'll make it easy for you; we'll put out the red carpet for you. With our new Entrepreneur Visa we want the whole world to know that Britain wants to become the home of enterprise and the land of opportunity".

Professionals entering Britain under the highly skilled category and ending up doing unskilled work, Cameron said, was "wrong and it's got to change".

The Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition introduced the controversial cap of 24,100 non-EU migrants until April 2011, by when a permanent limit will be imposed.

He said: "So as we introduce our limit and reduce non-EU economic migration, we will reform tier one to make sure that it is genuinely a route only for the best".

Cameron announced in the House of Commons last week that the Inter-Company Transfers (ICT) category of visa, which is widely used by Indian companies with office and branches in the UK, will not be affected by the current review of immigration rules.

Huh? This will open to such serious abuse.

Shameful that we don't have a government with any faith in it's own people and that we have such a lazy, disingenuous indigenous population.

[montesquieu]

WTF?

Huh? This will open to such serious abuse.

Shameful that we don't have a government with any faith in it's own people and that we have such a lazy, disingenuous indigenous population.

Would much, much rather have wealthy Indians or Chinese coming over rather than the boatloads of unemployable illiterate Somalis, Bangladeshis, Afghans etc we have at the moment.

If Maggie had done this in the years leading up to the Hong Kong handover, when a lot of the best HK entrepreneurs took fright and buggered off to Vancouver and Melbourne, our economy might well look quite different now.

[Toto deVeer]

Sounds a bit like desperation to me. He's not offering anything more than what is already available, and once the entrepreneurs look at the taxation, regulation and excessive price of housing, they'll be on the next plane home.

[ken_ichikawa]

If Maggie had done this in the years leading up to the Hong Kong handover, when a lot of the best HK entrepreneurs took fright and buggered off to Vancouver and Melbourne, our economy might well look quite different now.

In the 1970s and 1980s a lot of HK business men did come over to the UK..... there was a famous HK businessman (famous for being rich but in reality he is just another rentier) he came and lost his shirt.

IIRC from something I read of his, he said cost of living is so high people are better off on benefits...

Much like that British entrapaneur who went to China to build motorbikes there quite recently.

[Tiger Woods?]

Huh? This will open to such serious abuse.

Shameful that we don't have a government with any faith in it's own people and that we have such a lazy, disingenuous indigenous population.

Just what the UK needs - more spivs.

[LuckyOne]

The old system allowed anyone with 1 miilion pounds to enter the UK as an "investor". All that they had to do was buy Gilts and hold them for 5 years. That doesn't sound that entreprenurial to me.

[DeepLurker]

Sounds a bit like desperation to me. He's not offering anything more than what is already available, and once the entrepreneurs look at the taxation, regulation and excessive price of housing, they'll be on the next plane home.

Reading between the lines, I suspect that someone wanting to open a curry house would be classed as an 'entrepreneur' by Dave.

So we're not talking about encouraging brain surgeons to come to this country; we're talking about some guy from the slums of Calcutta/Islamabad who will live 10 to a house, save some cash, and buy a house in Bradford. House prices won't really affect him - the areas he will be interested in will already have seen prices destroyed by white flight.

PS Yes I'm feeling grumpy and cynical tonight.

[Orsino]

I think this is a good development. Immigrants with skills, talents and capital to invest in the British economy should be welcomed irrespective of their nationality. Isn't this something that countries like New Zealand have been doing for ages? This policy strikes me as one that's entirely consistent with wanting immigration that benefits Britain.

[easy2012]

WTF?

Huh? This will open to such serious abuse.

Shameful that we don't have a government with any faith in it's own people and that we have such a lazy, disingenuous indigenous population.

The entrepreneurs have to be reasonably irrational anyway to choose to come here while Asia/Latin America is growing at 8% or so and with low rates of taxes (vs 50% top + 20% VAT) here.

Not sure why one of the poster is against curry houses (or restaurant) - they create jobs and generate demands for local suppliers etc and they are only kept in business if the currys they sell delights the patrons.

[Qetesuesi]

Er... the "Labour-Lib-Dem" coalition?!!

[Toto deVeer]

I think this is a good development. Immigrants with skills, talents and capital to invest in the British economy should be welcomed irrespective of their nationality. Isn't this something that countries like New Zealand have been doing for ages? This policy strikes me as one that's entirely consistent with wanting immigration that benefits Britain.

I don't think its a development though, I think it's a PR stunt. The immigration rules have been very entrepreneur-friendly since Thatcher's days.

[repetitive bleats]

Hahaahaaa. Why on earth would entrepreneurs set up here? No govt incentives. Huge taxes. Crazy amounts of business/employement related bureaucracy. Expensive staff (who by other countries standards would be considered lazy) and sky high commercial rent. If it wasnt for the fact i was born here this is one of the last countries on earth i'd set up a business!

[Dorkins]

Immigration is fine as long as the foreigners are rich. Rich foreigners pushing up the cost of living makes your life better.

[Riedquat]

I think this is a good development. Immigrants with skills, talents and capital to invest in the British economy should be welcomed irrespective of their nationality. Isn't this something that countries like New Zealand have been doing for ages? This policy strikes me as one that's entirely consistent with wanting immigration that benefits Britain.

And amongst the 60 odd million people already here there aren't any capable of doing something genuinely entrepreneurial (instead of merely speculating and paying each other vast salarys)? Well, possibly not, but that's what needs addressing if we want a genuine long-term recovery based on real wealth.

[easy2012]

All Mohammed from Islamabad will have to do is show a couple of bank statements and company records that his friend Muhamed down the road will knock up for a Rupees, then bish bash bash another clan of future Jihadists will be here to play the benefits game!

There are 60 million people in the UK surely making the rules of the game better will enable some of these to open business.

PS Im looking at getting contracts in the oil game, there is not a chance 1 penny of this money will end up directly into the govt coffers as things stand, for the redtape/bureaucratic nonsense and PC bolllox dictating who i can hire and fear of putting a foot wrong with the taxman.

As I understand, you are now an (temporary) immigrant in Thailand? Thailand also has 60 odds million people...

So, do you reckon it is better for Thailand to kick the farang out and train their people to do the jobs ?

[R K]

The Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition introduced the controversial cap of 24,100 non-EU migrants until April 2011, by when a permanent limit will be imposed.

They got that bit right anyway.

[BuyInOxford]

As I understand, you are now an (temporary) immigrant in Thailand? Thailand also has 60 odds million people...

So, do you reckon it is better for Thailand to kick the farang out and train their people to do the jobs ?

I dont work in this crazy place and will be coming back to Blighty shortly to work the rotation as foreigners are as welcome as a fart in an astronauts suit to be honest, at present i come here once a month on a tourist on arrival visa for 28 days at a time then work for a month. But despite having a child who was born here with a Thai mother i will never get any form of Thai citizenship or ever be able to own land, and should i wish to stay here long term i'd have to report to immigration every 3 months, and id have to show an amount in my bank equivalent to approx 16000GBP.

There arent skilled jobs in this Kingdom that will go to a foreigner should a Thai be better suited to it, in certain ways they do look after their own here and i respect them for it, and to get a visa for investing in a company it takes 2 million GBP i believe though im not sure this route is still open.

But whilst i agree in principle with getting wealthy people to start business in the UK, in practice it will be abused .. as all these schemes are time after time.

500 million EU citizens have the right to come to the UK cancel this and think out a strategy what we've got at the moment isnt fit for purpose.

Edited November 8, 2010 by BuyInOxford