Brexit: Visa-Free Travel To Be Allowed

Whitehall sources have confirmed that the post-Brexit immigration plans now being proposed by the British Government would allow EU citizens to visit the UK without a visa. Such a system should also clear the way for Britain to negotiate visa-free passage for UK citizens to the EU.

Holidays With Less Hassle

While the proposed immigration plan would allow EU citizens visa-free travel it would not let them stay indefinitely. Immigration and freedom of movement were powerful motivating factors for many Brexit voters but some prominent pro-Brexit Tories have announced that they support the new proposal.

Andrew Bridgen MP said that he was happy for EU nationals to visit the UK without visas as long as they did not work or claim benefits. Different immigration laws would kick in if they decided to stay and work in the UK.

Sceptics say visa-free travel would allow EU workers to arrive in the UK and find work but the Government claims it can detect people who do not have a work permit by using the existing system of occasional checks on the status of workers.

There are likely to be temporary immigration rules in place if there’s a transition period after Britain leaves the EU. That would allow all countries – especially the UK’s closest neighbours – to prepare their borders appropriately.

The details of the transition arrangements and our long-term immigration plans will be published later in 2017. Though travel would be visa-free it would not equate to free movement, which allows EU citizens to work in another member state.

Workers Not Shirkers

The Government has already announced that it does not want to stop companies hiring skilled EU workers, an attitude that may have been forced on Westminster as firms have already found themselves struggling to recruit skilled employees since the referendum.

The Government declares that it wants more control over immigration but exactly how it will achieve that is still unclear. Government officials have denied one news report which stated that the UK planned to set a cap on the number of working visas that are granted each year to EU citizens.

Many experts on immigration had expected the Government to set a maximum number for visas as the Conservatives have previously criticised the current immigration system for not having a visa cap.

The UK’s work permit system was only recently replaced in 2008-10 with a point-based system. Based on an Australian model, that system uses tiers that prioritise immigration for workers and entrepreneurs with higher skills in the hope that Brits would gain more faith in the UK’s immigration process.

Unfortunately it’s been almost too successful; lower-skilled workers who are vital for services like the NHS have been shut out. Is it any wonder that our healthcare system is facing a staffing crisis?

Nursing Problems? Thing of the Past!

The NHS Employers Organisation wrote to then Home Secretary Theresa May in 2015 to complain about the system after almost 1,000 applications for NHS-sponsored work visas were rejected in just six months. The Home Office disputed the figures and went so far as to remove nurses from the shortage occupation list.

That list keeps track of job categories in which the UK has a deficit of workers. Very few job categories are included in their entirety, instead certain roles under an overall bracket – say “Engineering” – are specified.

Astonishingly, May removed nursing from Britain’s “most wanted” jobs list two years ago. Now the NHS is faced with a serious nursing crisis and the field has been put back on the list with every type of nursing listed as a shortage. The only other professional area in the same position is paramedics.

Visa-free travel is just a small piece in the elaborate and divisive puzzle the Brexit negotiating team has yet to solve – they’ve barely opened the box.

There’s still a huge cloud over working visas, immigration caps and border controls but this announcement is good news. Hopefully it will avoid huge airport queues post-Brexit and give Remainers something to hold on to in the coming years of hellish negotiations.

 

by Jo Davey

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