UK businesses formulate plan for London-only visa

British business captains have formulated a plan for a London-only visa, allowing those operating from the capital city of the UK to sponsor foreign skilled workers by offering them jobs with visas. The LCCI (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry), which has mooted it, is hoping to overcome political and other obstacles in order to salvage London’s popularity as a global trade centre. But, since London’s economic prosperity would depend on hiring immigrant workers, the LCCI will try to convince the government to buy this idea. The Financial Times quotes Sean McKee, the LCCI’s Policy and Public Affairs Team’s director, as saying that London would be not able to reclaim its glory without migrants. The biggest challenge for businesses would be having the requisite skills and staff in place, he added. For it to be fulfilled, the government needs to be accommodating enough to tweak the British immigration system. According to the plan, migrants who will be accepted would be eligible for national insurance numbers that are London-specific, preventing them from working elsewhere in the country. If they leave or lose their jobs, they would be given two months time to find another one. If they are not able to do so, they would be deported. But before businesses take in foreign workers, they would have to prove that they were not able to hire local workers A spokesman for Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that Khan was urging the government to come up with a solution to address the disadvantages present in the visa system, which has created too many hurdles for businesses in London. According to him, this proposal would add value to the discussions that the mayor is taking part in. Three million people living in the British capital are said to foreign-born. On the other hand, according to the LCCI, 25 percent of the workers in the UK capital were born abroad. If you want to migrate to the UK, come to Y-Axis to avail professional counselling to file for a work visa from one of its 19 offices located in India’s eight major cities.