UK explores abolishing some visa fees to attract global talent amid Trump’s H-1B move: Report

Amid US’ decision to hike up H-1B visa fees to $100,000 per petition, making it effectively unaffordable for most applicants, the UK is seeing it as an opportunity to gather top global talents for itself. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly exploring proposals to abolish some visa fees for top global talent.

According to a report in Financial Times, the prime minister’s “global talent task force” is working on ideas to bring the world’s best scientists, academics and digital experts to its shores to stimulate economic growth. The report added that the UK government was considering abolishing visa charges for top-level professionals. 

An official, speaking about the discussions inside Number 10 and the Treasury, said that the UK was exploring cutting visa costs to zero for people “who have attended the world’s top five universities or have won prestigious prizes”. 

They are seeing Trump’s move as a “wind in the sails” of those in the UK government batting for a reform of the nation’s high-end visa system, ahead of their budget on November 26. 

Starmer’s task force is chaired by his business adviser, Varun Chandra, and science minister Lord Patrick Vallance. The report added that the idea of cutting visa costs was yet to be discussed in the Home Office.

The current global talent visa system was a “bureaucratic nightmare”, said another official. The official said that it is not about bringing down net migration but getting the brightest and best into Britain. 

Application for Britain’s global talent visa, introduced in 2020, costs £766. Partners and children pay the same fee for the visa that targets eminent individuals in science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology, or arts and culture. An annual health surcharge of £1,035 is usually applied to each applicant. 

The Home Office said successful applicants are leaders or potential leaders in their field, as determined by an endorsing body.  In the year ending June 2023, the number of global talent visas granted rose by 76 per cent, reaching a total of 3,901.