Brexit: EU nationals allowed into the UK as visitors for job interviews

Experts advise European candidates to travel with documentary evidence and remind employers that if a job offer is made, they must now take additional steps due to Brexit.

EU job seekers visiting the UK for job interviews will not be detained or denied entry, according to the Home Office.

The clarification comes after reports that several Europeans traveling to the UK for interviews were detained at airports or sent to immigration detention centers after attempting to enter without visas.

Kevin Foster, the undersecretary of state for future borders and immigration, said in a written statement earlier this week that individuals were allowed to travel to the UK under the visitor route for a job interview, but that if successful, they would have to leave the country and re-enter through a route that allowed them to work. He added that any travel to the UK must be in line with the current Covid health regulations, and confirmed that Irish citizens did not require entry clearance when seeking or starting work in the UK.

What does the new immigration system look like?

The chancellor stated that the immigration reforms would assist “ambitious UK businesses in attracting the brightest and best international talent,” which home secretary Priti Patel also stated about the new system post-Brexit.

The new immigration reforms, most of which are due to be introduced in March 2022, include the following:

• Establish an elite points-based visa. Within this visa there will be a ’scale up’ stream, enabling those with a job offer from a recognized UK scale-up to qualify for a fast-track visa.
• Reform the global talent visa to allow holders of international prizes and winners of scholarships and programs for early promise to automatically qualify.
• Review the innovator visa to make it easier for those with the skills and experience to start an innovative business to obtain a visa.
• Launch the new global business mobility visa by spring 2022 for overseas businesses to establish a presence or transfer staff to the UK.
• Provide practical support to small firms that are using the visa system for the first time.
• Modernize the immigration sponsorship system to make it easier to use. The government is looking to publish a delivery roadmap in the summer.
• Establish a global outreach strategy by expanding the Global Entrepreneur Programme, marketing the UK’s visa offering, and exploring building an overseas talent network.

There will be further reforms to the global talent visa to make it more accessible. On 4 March 2020, the UK government already made a change to this visa route to allow applicants who have reached the pinnacle of their careers to bypass the endorsement requirement and instead qualify if they have received a prestigious prize.

None of the aforementioned changes are imminent, but these reforms should improve the immigration routes we have left after Brexit and aid the UK’s recovery from the pandemic.