Abuja - THE British High Commission has announced the details of Britain’s new Australian-style points-based immigration system (PBS) for highly skilled foreign workers applying to enter the United Kingdom (UK).

According to the commission in Abuja, the regulations will come into force on February 29, when highly skilled foreign nationals currently working in Britain and who want to extend their stay would need to apply under the new system.

In April, the new system would begin to be rolled out overseas when anyone from India who wants to work in the UK as a highly skilled migrant would need to apply under PBS. By the summer, the new highly skilled system would operate worldwide.

Speaking on how the PBS would work, Borders and Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne said: “Our points system is starting on time and on plan. I’ve no problem with taking the best systems in the world, like Australia’s points system and bringing them to the UK. This is a key part of the huge shake-up to our border security this year.”

Byrne explained that the points system means that only those migrants that Britain needs could come to the UK. “We know that migrants contributed to our economy to the tune of £6 billion GDP in 2006. A strong system for highly-skilled migrants is vital to Britain winning these benefits because these migrants are well-educated and pay lots of tax”, she said.

She said the Highly Skilled Tier One would build upon the success of the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme by continuing to attract the most talented people with the skills the UK needs to remain a global leader in the fields of finance, business and technological innovation.

The announcement follows the completion in January of the Border and Immigration Agency’s global rollout of fingerprinting for all visas three months early. Now, every person in the world coming to the UK on a visa has his or her fingerprints taken and details checked against watch-lists. If they are on the list for the wrong reason, they cannot come in and could be banned from applying to come again for up to 10 years.

Source: The Guardian

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