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UK Visa Policy Criticized as 'National Self-Harm', Lords Call for Review

by DD Staff

February 04, 2025

Home office

key takeaways

Britain’s strict new visa rules are a “act of national self-harm” that deters the brightest from coming to the country, Ministers were warned on Tuesday.

Talented Masters and PhD students, early-career researchers, scientists and tech experts are choosing not to come to the UK after entry requirements were changed, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said.

It has resulted in Britain becoming deprived of vital talent, particularly in fields like AI, peers said as they urged the Government to review visa rules.

In an effort to lower record levels of legal immigration, the then-Tory Government introduced a series of limitations on individuals and their family members entering the country last year.

The new regulations, which were put into effect gradually, prohibited the majority of international students from bringing their families to the UK, increased the cost of hiring foreign workers, and raised the minimum income required to bring dependents.

High up-front visa costs and an inflexible immigration system have put the UK at a severe competitive disadvantage that is hitting UK businesses, charities and universities, Lords said.

The Committee heard that Cancer Research UK is bracing for extra visa costs of £700,000 a year, while applications to postgraduate courses taught at Cranfield University, a specialist postgraduate university in Bedford, had dropped 47% in just two years.

Peers called on the Home Office to review the ban on international students bringing family to the UK with them, and for it to consider granting exemptions.

Baroness Brown of Cambridge, chair of the cross-party Lords Science and Technology Committee, wrote to the Home Secretary, Chancellor, and Science Minister, claiming that visa fees had increased by as much as 58% and were now higher than those in any similar nation.

According to her letter, the demand that an individual pay the entire Immigration Health Surcharge upfront for the life of a visa could result in an initial cost that amounts to tens of thousands of pounds.

According to Baroness Brown, "this is a huge deterrent to postdoctoral researchers."

"We have long been concerned about how the UK's immigration policy affects its capacity to draw in STEM talent.

“Indeed, it is the Committee’s view that the current policy, which throws up barriers to coming to the UK to work and study for Master’s and PhD students, young researchers, scientists and technology experts early in their careers, is an act of national self-harm.”

She added: “We understand that the Government was elected on a pledge to reduce overall immigration … but the ‘Global Talent’ visa (designed to help exceptional researchers come to the UK) only accounts for around 4,000 people a year.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We are grateful for the incredible work skilled international professionals do in the UK. However, it is clear that we must end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.

We intend to connect our immigration, skills, and visa systems in order to strengthen the domestic workforce, which is why, as part of our Plan for Change, we will release a White Paper outlining a thorough strategy to mend the broken immigration system.