UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he wants to encourage the most talented scientists to come to the UK, but the Guardian reports that the high cost of a visa might prevent that.
Under a proposed immigration law, visa fees would be £1,220 ($1,571) per person or £900 per person for those on an occupation shortage list, it adds. According to the Guardian, that means that a family of five needing a five-year work visa for one individual would have to pay £21,299 upfront after adding in additional per-person health service fees and other costs.
This cost is higher than other countries. For instance, it reports that the same family would pay £10,258 in Australia, but only £756 in Germany and £670 in Canada. Lisa Roberts, an immigration lawyer at DLA Piper, tells the paper that this could be too expensive for lab technicians, engineers, and researchers with entry-level salaries.
An official from the Home Office tells the Guardian that "the system is designed to be self-financing. It remains to be seen but I would expect the fees to remain broadly that order of magnitude."