Treasury pitches for city visa in UK

The Treasury has launched a fight in Whitehall to obtain ‘City visa’ for the UK in order to retain the crucial stream of international talent of the financial sector after Brexit in the country. Stephen Barclay, New City minister, is scheduled to meet Brandon Lewis, the immigration minister, in the last week of July to present a case for special rules owing to the substantial contribution of the sector to the economy and tax revenues of Britain. This comes in the backdrop of apprehension among business captains that UK PM Theresa May’s ambition to bring down net immigration levels to under 100,000 is a threat to the financial companies’ capability to fill crucial positions and let workers travel unrestrictedly between international offices. It is expected that Mr Barclay would call attention to fact that taxes paid by banks to the country's exchequer is about £24 billion. On the other hand, the number of people employed by the insurance and financial sector is over a million across the UK and its trade surplus amounts to £60 billion. Business leaders are extending their support to bankers and other financial professionals needed by the sector to be waived from immigration curbs pledged by Mrs May. Meanwhile, TheCityUK lobby group had recently mooted a ‘digital skills visa’ to ensure that companies can hire IT workers who are pivotal to the modern finance sector. According to Evening Standard, the Treasury would opt for a sector-based visa over the ‘London visa’, as one in three in that sector is spread all over the UK. London accounted for about 51 percent of the revenues of £121 billion for the UK in 2016 through finance and insurance, and almost 30 percent of its workforce in the Square Mile is from the overseas. On the other hand, Liam Fox, International Trade Secretary, said he had no issues with the transition period for the UK to leave the EU. If you are looking to migrate to the UK, get in touch with Y-Axis, a premier consultancy company for immigration services, to apply for a visa.