International scientists ‘reject UK jobs over high visa costs’

Outstanding international scientists have been forced to turn down job offers from UK universities because they cannot afford to pay high visa costs, a parliamentary committee has been told.

Speaking at the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee, Harry Anderson, policy manager for immigration at Universities UK, said several academics had scotched plans to move to the UK, or sought to shorten their stay, after learning the full extent of costs related to visas and health surcharges. Total visas fees for a researcher, their partner and two children applying for a five-year visa via the Skilled Worker route are almost £16,000, which must be paid up front, UUK has calculated.

In one case, a Turkish academic, who was the only suitably qualified applicant for a university research post, decided to reject a UK job offer because the total relocation costs would have been “10 times their salary in Turkey”, explained Mr Anderson.

“Academics are also asking for shorter contracts because if you are asking for a five-year visa then that makes it more unaffordable,” he added, stating that the “upfront nature of our visa system is detrimental to the UK”.

That view was shared by Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation, who said that the scale of visa costs for international researchers “can be very inhibitory” in terms of attracting applicants.

On the immigration health surcharge visa, which costs £624 a year per family member, she noted that “if you are a family of four coming for five years, that stacks up to a large amount that you have to pay on the day you arrive”.

Describing the current situation as a “pivotal moment” in terms of attracting top early career researchers to the UK, Dame Ottoline added that she wanted to see a review of UK immigration rules, with a view to making it easier for PhD graduates to gain permanent residency.

“At the moment three or four years of study does not count towards indefinite leave to remain in the UK – that is something we need to think about,” said Dame Ottoline on the rules that require migrants to work for at least five years before gaining leave to remain, and another three years before acquiring the right to citizenship.

The UK’s attractiveness to scientific talent was “quite complex – it is not just about salary by any means”, she added, even if UKRI had recently announced plans to increase its minimum PhD stipend by 10 per cent from next year to “keep pace with international competition”.

Those concerns over the UK’s relative attractiveness were also echoed by Maggie Dallman, vice-president (international) at UUK, and associate provost for international at Imperial College London.

While UK universities competed well in salary terms with most European institutions, Imperial and other institutions had seen “fewer applicants, more applications that fail to take up jobs and more questions about what it is like in the UK”, which “suggests the attractiveness of the UK might have decreased in recent years”, said Professor Dallman.

“Our attractiveness as a destination for researchers in STEM-based research does come up with colleagues [in Imperial] and it does feel that the UK is more parochial and unattractive,” continued Professor Dallman, who called the current situation “very fragile” in terms of recruiting leading international talent.

“We need to make sure it goes in the right direction – it would be a huge shame if we didn’t.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com