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The UK will make it easier to attract global talent at a time when the US is making it harder, the chancellor has said, in a direct reference to a recent overhaul of American visa policy.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a 50-fold hike in the cost of skilled-worker permits to $100,000 (£74,000), causing confusion as staff from US tech firms rushed back to the USA.

"While President Trump announced late last week that it will make it harder to bring talent to the US, we want to make it easier to bring talent to the UK," Rachel Reeves said on Tuesday.

The BBC understands the government plans to double the number of high skilled foreign worker visas to around 18,000 a year.

Reeves comments come after the UK trumpeted a £150bn tech deal with the US during Trump's second state visit.

Reeves was speaking at the opening of fintech giant Revolut's new global headquarters in Canary Wharf, where the firm said it would invest £3bn in the UK and create 1,000 new jobs.

The firm is something of a test case for the government's hopes to remove regulatory barriers to fast growing international companies.

Last week, Trump caused chaos in Silicon Valley by announcing an overhaul of the H-1B visa system used by the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft and others to hire top talent from overseas.

Many US tech workers, originally from other countries, who were outside of the US at the time of the announcement then scrambled to fly back - spending thousands of dollars in some cases.

By Saturday, the White House sought to calm the storm, clarifying that the fee applied only to new applicants and was a one-off. Yet, the long-standing H-1B programme - criticised for undercutting American workers but praised by tech firms - still faces an uncertain future.

Trump's wife Melania Trump, Tesla chief executive and former Trump ally Elon Musk, Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella all held H-1B visas at one point.

During her speech at Revolut's offices on Tuesday, Reeves was keen to stress the UK's alternative approach.

"London isn't just the capital of the United Kingdom, it is one of the two financial capitals in the world, and we want to differentiate ourselves from other countries around the world by being open to the best talent globally," she said.

"So, while President Trump announced late last week that it will make it harder to bring talent to the US, we want to make it easier to bring talent to the UK.

"We are expanding our global talent and high potential individual visa routes, and we're moving quickly to make those easier to access and more supportive of firms ambitions to bring talent here."

Revolut was Founded by Russian born entrepreneur Nik Storonsky in 2015 and has amassed 65 million customers in 40 countries. It currently commands a valuation estimated at $75bn (£55bn), more than rival bank Barclays or social media site X (formerly Twitter).

What Revolut does not have is a full UK banking licence, despite having applied for one in 2021. Its current provisional licence prevents it from offering mortgages or taking deposits more than £50,000.

The firm has been heavily criticised in the past for its issues with fraud.

A BBC investigation has previously found that Revolut was named in more reports of fraud in the 2023/24 financial year than any of the major High Street banks.

The firm said, at the time, it took fraud incredibly seriously and it had "robust controls" to meet its legal and regulatory obligations.

Revolut Chair Sir Martin Gilbert told the BBC UK regulators had been slow, but he said he was hopeful a full licence was not far away.

"They are cautious – they have never seen growth like it – this is a bank adding two million customers a month. But it will be soon I hope."

Earlier this year, Rachel Reeves summoned several major regulators including financial watchdogs to number 11 to urge them to prioritise growth.

The UK is Revolut's biggest single market with 11 million customers but despite choosing London as its global HQ, the company refuses to be drawn on whether it will eventually list its shares on the London stock market.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yjlw4n5d5o

Nawa for BBC! How can you mention Rachel Reeves without introducing her? I didn't expect this from a big name in journalism. People who make key government decisions like PM Keir Starmer are taking steps to reduce UK immigration and this woman is going about deceiving herself.

I wish I could believe this news article that the UK is open to top talent. Before you put your money on going to the UK, consider those who are already there. propaganda.

This is the exact opposite of the government's policies to reduce immigration. With the opposition proposing even more strict policies, the government will try to match those plans with stricter policies for political reasons so it's expected to get worse.

Make them no whine us abeg

You are joking
UK immigration policy currently is not conducive
Salary unattainable threshold for COS which will force many to be out of status very soon. Even study path is not rosy anymore.

chrisifeanyi:
You are joking
UK immigration policy currently is not conducive
Salary unattainable threshold for COS which will force many to be out of status very soon. Even study path is not rosy anymore.

No be care work dem dey talk.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank God trump will stay just 3years left...

The guy will destroy what makes America special

Dis is why Nigeria should regulate migration.... They'll take our best brains because we ain't using them... D ones we are using we ain't paying them.... The ones getting paid can't sleep well at Night.....

omotayocaleb:
I wish I could believe this news article that the UK is open to top talent. Before you put your money on going to the UK, consider those who are already there. propaganda.

It is open to top talent as I was recruited by a London borough in Central London for the skills I bring to their Children Services.

Britain should be for the British. Continue your immigration trajectory and the British monarchy should soon go under and your values, mores and ethos go to the dogs. As President Trump recently said at the UNO "it is your business"!

bigpicture001:
Thank God trump will stay just 3years left...

The guy will destroy what makes America special

Cos it's not suitable for you, you are crying. If your government cared for you as much as he does for his people, your country wont be where it is.

Someone is saying you must recruit our citizens and exhaust all channels before exploring other means and you are crying.
These companies have been sacking US citizens and going for cheaper alternatives overseas, so as to increase their profit margin.

Clearly, you need to stick to policies and topics you are very well informed about.

What exactly does the UK offer? They should kindly go and sleep.

Very nonsense place to reside in.

Save for insecurity and the yeye Goverment, Abuja is way better, if you are established. Several African cities as well.

Thrash weather, poor food. Jihadist taking over. London is basically an extension of Lagos

Sigh

SmartPolician:
Nawa for BBC! How can you mention Rachel Reeves without introducing her? I didn't expect this from a big name in journalism. People who make key government decisions like PM Keir Starmer are taking steps to reduce UK immigration and this woman is going about deceiving herself.

She is not talking about the normal immigration. This is not mass recruitment of caregivers, she is talking about attracting "top foreign talents" which is more like the Canada immigration programs based on a rating and nomination system.
The UK has been very lenient and taken a whole lot of foreigners in already out of which we have hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.
So, she knows exactly what she is talking about.

Trump says things as it is. Uk are always lying. I trust Trump any day and anytime

Una won start to dey move our best stars again with this format?
All these people seif

fasho01:
This is the exact opposite of the government's policies to reduce immigration.

The UK government wants to reduce illegal immigration.

We can't survive without talented immigrants.

https://www.nairaland.com/7731821/teach-uk-open-sesame

zoedew:
Britain should be for the British. Continue your immigration trajectory and the British monarchy should soon go under and your values, mores and ethos go to the dogs. As President Trump recently said at the UNO "it is your business"!

so let's assume every countries close their borders like some of u without hope of traveling anywhere or leaving your village wish, Britain for British, USA for Americans, Nigeria for Nigerians etc...so what's next? everybody will just remain rigid wherever they are?

UK keeps flip-floping with immigration policies

UK is filled with talented islamist protesters and welfare grifters...

bigpicture001:
Thank God trump will stay just 3years left...

The guy will destroy what makes America special

He is making America great again.

Come back to Nigeria if you don't like his policies

zoedew:
Britain should be for the British. Continue your immigration trajectory and the British monarchy should soon go under and your values, mores and ethos go to the dogs. As President Trump recently said at the UNO "it is your business"!

you see that europe in couple of years from now the main europeans go be minority, even by bro and friends don born there pikin don be citizen and the pace at with indians and arabs they move there in throve is crazily alarming. my people don benefit from that porous allowance but i feel for the real Britons, because if na naija me no go gree o

SmartPolician:
Nawa for BBC! How can you mention Rachel Reeves without introducing her? I didn't expect this from a big name in journalism. People who make key government decisions like PM Keir Starmer are taking steps to reduce UK immigration and this woman is going about deceiving herself.

i thought i am the only one who looked forward to BBC introducing who is Reeves

zoedew:
Britain should be for the British. Continue your immigration trajectory and the British monarchy should soon go under and your values, mores and ethos go to the dogs. As President Trump recently said at the UNO "it is your business"!

You don't seem aware that immigrants have been kings of England. So be educated.

https://anglotopia.net/british-history/brit-history-the-foreign-kings-of-england/

Open to overseas talent but my brothers and sisters are doing care jobs, warehouse jobs and uber with double master’s degrees. Btw the is UK that’s making comparisons of themselves with the US is merely a population of fifty something million people compare that with three hundred million plus of the US, they need the immigration more.

Berankis:
She is not talking about the normal immigration. This is not mass recruitment of caregivers, she is talking about attracting "top foreign talents" which is more like the Canada immigration programs based on a rating and nomination system.
The UK has been very lenient and taken a whole lot of foreigners in already out of which we have hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.
So, she knows exactly what she is talking about.

I learnt about the UK's Global Talent immigration pathway from a popular YouTuber who relocated to the UK through it after winning the Chevening scholarship first.

My comment still stays. Her superiors are taking broader steps to tighten their immigration policies to reduce the number of people relocating to their country. That means all means of moving to the UK will be adjusted. If not now, later.

No country can keep up with mass immigration from other countries around the world, especially in a world where several countries aren't working.

SmartPolician:
I learnt about the UK's Global Talent immigration pathway from a popular YouTuber who relocated to the UK through it after winning the Chevening scholarship first.

My comment still stays. Her superiors are taking broader steps to tighten their immigration policies to reduce the number of people relocating to their country. That means all means of moving to the UK will be adjusted. If not now, later.

No country can keep up with mass immigration from other countries around the world, especially in a world where several countries aren't working.

I think you don't understand how cunning Brits are.

One side of the mouth says they don't want immigrants, to appease the public who fears being overrun, while the other side of the same mouth invites immigrants to fill unfillable jobs and increase tax revenue and GDP.

Countries need migrants because their own populations are ageing and birth rates are low, and population will detrimentally fall if not replaced by fertile migrants.

Even Japan is inviting people, though their people resent it.

https://www.nairaland.com/8526627/japan-scraps-africa-hometown-initiative#136915207

In quote "talents"
Talents like Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko that can found $75 billion company. You think Keir Starmer has problem with such immigrants. Even Trump and MAGAs do not. One: they are Europeans, they dont even need VISAs to enter. Two: The issue of race or religion. Trump once said he will prefer migrants from countries like Norway, not "shithole countries". These people actually know what they are doing.

SmartPolician:
Nawa for BBC! How can you mention Rachel Reeves without introducing her? I didn't expect this from a big name in journalism. People who make key government decisions like PM Keir Starmer are taking steps to reduce UK immigration and this woman is going about deceiving herself.