War Refugees To Be Offered 5-Year Work Visas In UK - Home Secretary

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2021) UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will announce special five-year work visas next week, which will be granted to all war refugees possessing the necessary skills to fill job shortages in the United Kingdom, The Times reported on Saturday.

"The British people have always been generous to refugees. This is a source of great national pride and will never change. Part of our firm but fair approach is to strengthen the safe and legal ways in which people can enter the UK. And I can announce that this government will take action to help those displaced by conflict and violence access our global points-based system," Patel said as quoted by The Times.

The scheme will apply to refugees in humanitarian camps in Jordan and Lebanon who fled conflict zones like Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

In order to qualify for the program, the refugees will need to prove that they are skilled in one of the occupations listed in the UK's occupation shortage list which includes but is not limited to vets, IT workers and nurses.

The scheme is based on similar programs which are available in Canada and Australia.

"It's not so much changing the immigration system but helping people who already qualify for the existing immigration system," a source told the newspaper.

The trial of the scheme will welcome 100 refugees and their families and will be organized in partnership with the charity Talent Beyond Boundaries which already cooperates with similar programs in Australia and Canada.

The announcement of the program comes prior to the lawmakers debating the vote on the Nationality and Borders Bill, which will take place on Monday and aims to make provision about nationality, asylum and immigration.