The UK prime minister announced an increase in the UK immigration fee. This initiative is to give fair pay to public sector workers, but it has burdened and affected many. Learn more about this through this blog.
Recently, Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, announced a significant surge of 15-20% in the UK immigration fee. Funding for public sector pay, particularly for healthcare professionals, is the major reason for this hike. However, this has raised a pertinent question: Why should migrants be the ones dealing with the cost of public pay rises, especially for National Health Service (NHS) staff?
NHS Depends on Immigration for Staffing
According to the research conducted by the Migration Observatory, the NHS continues to rely on the immigration system to recruit essential overseas staff. Following Brexit, the health and care sector has faced a hike in work visa holders, especially immediately after the pandemic.
Despite the NHS fighting with the huge staff shortage, there has been an increase in visa application fees for migrants announced by the government. Not only will these workers be paying income tax, but they will also be putting out an additional amount for the NHS through the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).
The primary UK visa fee for immigration has seen an increase since the start of October. Moreover, IHS is also expected to rise from £624 to £1,035 per person annually. This increase will be implemented by the end of 2023 or early in 2024.
Impacting Businesses and Tech Start-ups
The result of the announcement has been that many businesses are making adjustments to their annual budget. While paying these additional costs may not be such an issue for a large corporation, it can be daunting for small businesses and tech start-ups that are trying to make the UK the next Silicon Valley.
Also, it has been revealed by UK immigration news that clawback clauses in employment contracts are being added by many employers, permitting them to extract most costs from the sponsored employee if they decide to leave prior to visa expiration.
Even though it is important to give fair pay to public sector workers, increasing immigration costs to fulfil this goal has raised skepticism. The real issue is ensuring transparency to see how the funds from the surge are being used.
We hope you found this information helpful. Follow our blogs for the latest updates and informative content on UK immigration.
