Through 2023 and early 2024, the last UK Government implemented changes to the immigration system to make it harder to come to the UK. Early data from the Home Office suggests that these changes are already having an impact, with fewer visas being issued in early 2024.
This has big implications for UK science. Analysis by the Royal Society has revealed that UK visas are now considerably more expensive than visas for other top research nations, like the US, Germany and Japan. The Global Talent visa, which is designed to help exceptional researchers come to the UK, now costs 1,583% more than the average for dedicated researcher visas in leading science destinations.
The new Government has set itself missions to improve the UK’s health and kickstart sustainable economic growth – and it has acknowledged that life sciences are key to both. Helpfully, the UK is already renowned for spearheading world-leading life science research, but, to achieve its goals, the Government needs to ensure we can continue to attract world-leading researchers. That means addressing the growing issues around immigration.
To better understand those, we’ve collected evidence from the four Cancer Research UK institutes on their experience with international recruitment. The findings are stark:
- Our modelling suggests that immigration costs will increase by 44% to £700,000 annually. In terms of total cost, that’s the equivalent of training 17 new Cancer Research UK PhD students every year.
- The challenges of navigating the immigration system mean fewer talented researchers from across the world are applying to work at our institutes.
To stop these developments damaging UK research, we’re urging the new Government to reverse the recent visa fee increases and initiate a full-scale review of the impact of the immigration system on the country’s ability to recruit international researchers. This review should look at the visa systems of all countries and examine further options to cut fees and attract scientific talent.
You can read our recommendations in full in our report. This article will introduce them and put them in context.
