ACTIVITIES – PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
In conjunction with the Home Office, a few years ago TLA Immigration hosted three UK based ‘Home Office Hours’ events, at which members of the tech community were able to meet directly with Home Office policy team members to discuss issues and concerns. A fourth overseas event was also held in San Francisco, allowing overseas Advocates and the tech community abroad to explore options for growing businesses in the UK.
The Working Group made a full submission to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) regarding tech sector roles to be included on the ‘Shortage Occupation List’. That submission was driven by a significant data gathering exercise and a “tech tour” during which senior members of the Migration Advisory Committee visited several tech organizations and met with many members of the community. As a result of these efforts, the MAC included four digital roles on the UK Shortage Occupation List, the first time that digital roles have been included.
The group has also provided extensive input on the Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa categories. The working group campaigned to get third party endorsers to assist with Tier 1 visas and spoke out about not removing the Entrepreneur visa. Since 2018, the group extensively campaigned to have the Tier 2 visa ‘cap’ listed, which the UK Government announced would go into effect from 1st December 2020.
The work of the Home Office/Tech London Advocates Taskforce is on-going, and we continue to explore ways in which we can work directly with government to clarify policy and effect change. We are looking at a variety of further initiatives to help make immigration policy accessible to the sector and to ensure that the UK continues to attract the best and brightest to our shores.
