Visa changes spell difficulties for overseas contractors
Changes to UK immigration law could reduce the number of Aussie, Kiwi and South African contractors working in the City of London.
People from Commonwealth countries who visit the UK on a two year Working Holiday Visa (WHV) acquired after 8th February 2005 can now work for just 12 months instead of 24. When a WHV expires, holders also now need to go home to renew it instead of popping to their nearest embassy.
Nadine Owen, an employment lawyer at CMS Cameron McKenna, says the expense of renewing a visa is discouraging some people working in banking from bothering: "People are being put off. It's expensive for them to go through the process - employers will sometimes pay, but not always."
A recent survey of 253 Commonwealth temporary workers by Morgan McKinley, the middle and back office recruiter, found significant numbers would be dissuaded by the new restrictions. 36% of Australians, 25% of New Zealanders and 17% of South Africans said they would not have applied for a visa at all.
Repercussions for the financial services sector could be significant. Recent research by recruiter Joslin Rowe found overseas employees accounted for one third of all contract staff placed in the investment manager sector. Oliver Harris, head of contract assignments at rival recruiter Robert Walters, puts the overall number even higher: 50% of contract employees placed by Robert Walters in City of London banks are from outside the UK, he says.
Harris says the changes have yet to make themselves felt: "It's early days: this only applies to people who obtained their visas after February 8th. So far there's been no impact at all."
The 12 month working restriction could create problems in future, says Harris: "If people work seven months and then go travelling, they'll only have five months of working visa left when they get back. - Most contracts are six months or more."
Problems could be mitigated by more people coming to the UK on alternative long term visa programmes. James Guttridge, a senior consultant in the temporary division of Joslin Rowe, says more and more overseas financial services contractors are coming to the UK on the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, for example.
