UK skilled migrant cap restricts entry for foreign lawyers

New immigration restrictions announced by the UK Government will make it tougher for law firms to conduct international recruitment April next year. The changes include the removal of the tier one general category for highly-skilled workers – the category that is usually used by law firms to bring in new recruits from outside of Europe. Law firms looking to recruit from overseas will now need to apply under the tier two general category for skilled workers, but will be restricted by the new annual migrant cap of 20,700. The Government has decided not to limit intra-company transfers for migrants earning over £40,000, who are permitted to transfer to the UK for a five-year period. PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal global immigration head Julia Onslow-Cole said: "As a general rule it will be more difficult for law firms to bring in people from overseas. However, in general the business sector is categorically welcoming the announcement, as it could have been a lot worse."

UK skilled migrant cap restricts entry for foreign lawyers legalweek.com Thu, Nov 25, 2010