UK moves to attract global talent with visa fee waiver: Report

The UK government is looking at bolstering a drive to attract global talent with a possible visa fee waiver to support the world's top science and tech talent relocation to the country, a media report said on Monday.

The Global Talent Taskforce, backed up by a 54-million-pound Global Talent Fund launched earlier this year, is revving up further to lure international experts, including Indians, even as the US announced a clampdown on its H-1B visas used by global techies, according to a ‘Financial Times' report.

The taskforce, which reports directly to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, works across 10 Downing Street and the UK Treasury to explore ways to boost the UK's economic growth.

"We're kicking around the idea of cutting (visa) costs to zero,” the newspaper quoted a government official as saying.

"We're talking about the sort of people who have attended the world's top five universities or have won prestigious prizes,” the official said.

It comes as President Donald Trump's order imposing a $100,000 one-off application fee on all new H-1B visa applications came into force on Sunday. The visa is used overwhelmingly by American tech majors, with Indians among the largest recipients.

The UK operates a Global Talent Visa system, which is often perceived as heavily bureaucratic and led to Starmer launching his taskforce back in June. It is chaired by the UK PM's business adviser, Varun Chandra, and Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance.

“The launch of the Taskforce and 54-million-pound Global Talent Fund, which will attract world-class researchers and their teams to the UK, covering relocation and research costs over five years starting this year, sends a clear signal to exceptional talent and businesses that the UK seeks to continue its global leadership in growth-driving sectors," the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said in a statement.

Since its launch, the taskforce has been working to support researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top-tier managerial and engineering talent and high-calibre creatives to relocate and work closely with the UK's international presence to network and build a pipeline of talent who want to come to Britain, DSIT said.

"Competition for elite global talent is high, and by establishing this taskforce we are solidifying our position as the first choice for the world's brightest sparks, as well as turbocharging innovation in medicines and inventions of the future, boosting British business and putting money in working people's pockets,” said Jonathan Reynolds, then business and trade secretary, at the launch three months ago.

The British government has stressed that the move aligns with its ‘Immigration White Paper' by fast-tracking the “brightest and best talent” into the UK's high-growth and strategic industries while curbing overall migration figures.

Meanwhile, the far-right anti-immigration Reform UK held a press conference in London on Monday to pledge to abolish the route to indefinite leave to remain (ILR), or permanent residency, if elected to power in a future general election.

"We are firmly of the belief, with research backing it up, that just over 50 per cent of those who are coming up as part of the ‘Boriswave' as part of indefinite leave to remain are not working, have not worked and in all probability will never, ever work,” said Reform UK chief Nigel Farage, blaming former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson for a spike in legal migrant numbers.

He said his party would implement a "much tougher route to citizenship", replacing the current five-year ILR route with a five-year renewable work visa, backed up by a "materially higher" salary threshold.

Downing Street dismissed the announcement as “unrealistic, unworkable and unfunded plans”.

“They (Reform UK) don't want to tackle the issues facing the country, they want to foster division,” a spokesperson said.