Immigration shift lets jobless bankers into UK

An investment banker from outside the European Union has become the first person to be given the right to live and work in the UK under a new immigration scheme that allows skilled workers into the country even though they have no job to go to.

Lawyers said other non-EU bankers are applying to enter Britain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, which the UK government introduced last month.

Julia Onslow-Cole, head of immigration at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, said: 'Non-EU bankers already in the UK will be able to take advantage of the programme as a means of staying in the country if they are made redundant.'

Under normal immigration rules, many non-EU nationals have to leave the UK if they lose their jobs.

Onslow-Cole said the first successful applicant under the new scheme already lives here, but declined to give details. Most applications she knew of have come from the US. Others were from Israel and Canada. Foreign students at London Business School have also shown interest.

Sushma Gobindram, a solicitor at the law firm Landau Zeffertt Dresden, said: 'We're getting lots of enquiries from bankers. It's an excellent way of getting into the country without a job offer.'

Applicants must show they can support themselves for a year. They must also reach 75 points in a scoring system that looks at academic background, work experience and previous earnings.

This total is reached by anyone with a master's degree, three years' work experience at graduate level, two more years at a more senior level and recent annual earnings of 40,000 (€65,000) if they have been in the UK or US.

Onslow-Cole said the government has set no limit on the number of people who might qualify for the programme.