Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the reason for delaying the decision about granting British-Hong Kong Servicemen and families British citizenship.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The government remains extremely grateful to those who served in the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.
Under the British Nationality Selection Scheme, introduced in 1990 and run until 1 July 1997, a limited number of Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who were settled in Hong Kong could apply to register as British citizens.
We give careful consideration to representations made on behalf of those former Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel.
Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who hold British National (Overseas) status, or are an immediate family member of someone who holds this status, may be eligible for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route which was launched on 31 January 2021.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when a decision will be made about granting British-Hong Kong Servicemen and families British citizenship.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The government remains extremely grateful to those who served in the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.
Under the British Nationality Selection Scheme, introduced in 1990 and run until 1 July 1997, a limited number of Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who were settled in Hong Kong could apply to register as British citizens.
We give careful consideration to representations made on behalf of those former Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel.
Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who hold British National (Overseas) status, or are an immediate family member of someone who holds this status, may be eligible for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route which was launched on 31 January 2021.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to grant British citizenship to British-Hong Kong Servicemen and their families.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The government remains extremely grateful to those who served in the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.
Under the British Nationality Selection Scheme, introduced in 1990 and run until 1 July 1997, a limited number of Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who were settled in Hong Kong could apply to register as British citizens.
We give careful consideration to representations made on behalf of those former Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel.
Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who hold British National (Overseas) status, or are an immediate family member of someone who holds this status, may be eligible for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route which was launched on 31 January 2021.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to revise current visa categories to allow non-EU professionals and experts, in particular those in the health and science sectors, to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay, but receiving funding for their flights and accommodation, without the need for a work permit.
Answered by Lord Bates
We keep all categories of entry and the application process under regular review. The Home Office recently concluded a wide ranging review and consultation that led to the changes to the Immigration Rules for visitors in April this year. The changes included consolidation and simplification of all visitor categories from fifteen into four routes to provide flexibility on the activities a visitor can do, as well as some expansion of the permitted activities. These included business related activities such as participating in or running training courses, meetings and conferences.
Under the Immigration Rules visitors are allowed to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay and their sponsors are welcome to provide funding for flights and accommodation.
More details on what people can do when visiting the UK and how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa and the detailed Immigration Rules for Visitors can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the current visa categories and visa application processes in line with their <i>Britain is GREAT </i>campaign, which "welcomes the world to visit, study and do business with the UK".
Answered by Lord Bates
We keep all categories of entry and the application process under regular review. The Home Office recently concluded a wide ranging review and consultation that led to the changes to the Immigration Rules for visitors in April this year. The changes included consolidation and simplification of all visitor categories from fifteen into four routes to provide flexibility on the activities a visitor can do, as well as some expansion of the permitted activities. These included business related activities such as participating in or running training courses, meetings and conferences.
Under the Immigration Rules visitors are allowed to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay and their sponsors are welcome to provide funding for flights and accommodation.
More details on what people can do when visiting the UK and how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa and the detailed Immigration Rules for Visitors can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review their current immigration policies so that international students, qualified researchers, and experts across the health and science sectors can more easily enter the UK and participate in training, run courses, and attend meetings and conferences.
Answered by Lord Bates
We keep all categories of entry and the application process under regular review. The Home Office recently concluded a wide ranging review and consultation that led to the changes to the Immigration Rules for visitors in April this year. The changes included consolidation and simplification of all visitor categories from fifteen into four routes to provide flexibility on the activities a visitor can do, as well as some expansion of the permitted activities. These included business related activities such as participating in or running training courses, meetings and conferences.
Under the Immigration Rules, visitors are allowed to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay and their sponsors are welcome to provide funding for flights and accommodation.
More details on what people can do when visiting the UK and how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa and the detailed Immigration Rules for Visitors can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the current visa categories and visa application processes to help foster international research collaborations, in particular in the health and science sectors.
Answered by Lord Bates
Our current immigration policies, categories and processes already explicitly take account of the needs of academics, scientists and researchers. We have consistently protected and enhanced the treatment of these roles in the immigration system, even whilst restricting migration in other spheres.
In Tier 2, the skilled work route, we have given PhD level roles, which include academics, scientists and researchers, higher priority when allocating places within the annual limit and relaxed rules relating to recruitment and settlement. We have introduced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route for world leaders in science, engineering, humanities, the arts and digital technology, and several universities and research organisations are making use of this route. The Tier 5 (Temporary Work) route contains provisions to enable sponsored researchers to participate in international research collaborations, and for overseas medical and dental post-graduates to undertake training in the UK.
The immigration system also supports the health sector, with several health professions, including doctors in emergency medicine, included on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). Nurses have been added to the SOL as a temporary measure, pending a full review of the evidence by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
We keep all immigration routes under review to ensure they are working effectively in line with the Government’s migration objectives. For the future, we have commissioned the MAC to advise on restricting Tier 2 to genuine skills shortages and jobs which require highly-specialised experts, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers. We await the MAC’s report with interest and will consider it carefully before making any significant changes.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review their current immigration policies to enable universities, research institutes, and other science and health-based organisations to recruit talent globally.
Answered by Lord Bates
Our current immigration policies, categories and processes already explicitly take account of the needs of academics, scientists and researchers. We have consistently protected and enhanced the treatment of these roles in the immigration system, even whilst restricting migration in other spheres.
In Tier 2, the skilled work route, we have given PhD level roles, which include academics, scientists and researchers, higher priority when allocating places within the annual limit and relaxed rules relating to recruitment and settlement. We have introduced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route for world leaders in science, engineering, humanities, the arts and digital technology, and several universities and research organisations are making use of this route. The Tier 5 (Temporary Work) route contains provisions to enable sponsored researchers to participate in international research collaborations, and for overseas medical and dental post-graduates to undertake training in the UK.
The immigration system also supports the health sector, with several health professions, including doctors in emergency medicine, included on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). Nurses have been added to the SOL as a temporary measure, pending a full review of the evidence by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
We keep all immigration routes under review to ensure they are working effectively in line with the Government’s migration objectives. For the future, we have commissioned the MAC to advise on restricting Tier 2 to genuine skills shortages and jobs which require highly-specialised experts, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers. We await the MAC’s report with interest and will consider it carefully before making any significant changes.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to identify biomedical researchers and academics amongst Syrian refugees and make arrangements for them to enter the United Kingdom and to assist them in finding relevant employment.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Syrian Vulnerable Persons' Resettlement (VPR) scheme will continue to prioritise the most vulnerable: people requiring urgent medical treatment, survivors of torture and violence, and women and children at risk. We are discussing with the UNCHR and other partners the extent to which the current criteria should be extended to ensure that a greater number of people qualify for the scheme.
Beneficiaries of the scheme will have full right to work in the UK and will be able to seek employment subject to meeting appropriate professional standards. There are no plans specifically to target medical practitioners, medical students or any other professional group because the scheme is a humanitarian one based on the protection needs of individual refugees, not their professional qualifications.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to work with the medical, nursing and midwifery Royal Colleges, the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and the regulators of other healthcare professions to enable Syrian refugees who are qualified health professionals to enter practice in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Syrian Vulnerable Persons' Resettlement (VPR) scheme will continue to prioritise the most vulnerable: people requiring urgent medical treatment, survivors of torture and violence, and women and children at risk. We are discussing with the UNCHR and other partners the extent to which the current criteria should be extended to ensure that a greater number of people qualify for the scheme.
Beneficiaries of the scheme will have full right to work in the UK and will be able to seek employment subject to meeting appropriate professional standards. There are no plans specifically to target medical practitioners, medical students or any other professional group because the scheme is a humanitarian one based on the protection needs of individual refugees, not their professional qualifications.