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We have mentioned this a number of times before. There are insufficient safeguards to prevent abuses of power by the Home Office. Who can you complain to about this? Excessive secrecy means that you also do not really know what is going on. Much of the time probably Government Ministers do not know what is happening.
While there are concerns about the US visa for startups there are still opportunities to start up in the US. Two US visa categories that are worth considering are the E2 Treaty Investor Visa scheme and L1 visa scheme. There is no quota for these particular visa categories and they can be used both by investors and employees.
We have seen many examples where the Home Office working with other organisations causes serious problems. For example, people have unjustly had to leave the UK. if you go to Court to challenge a Home Office decision, you cannot always expect to be treated fairly. Untrue statements are made in Court to try and win cases. At times there is bias in the system with certain public sector employees showing bias towards other public sector employees.
It may be a long time before we see major changes to the UK visa system. It seems that a no deal Brexit is increasingly unlikely. MPs will probably prefer to delay Brexit. Even a number of pro Brexit MPs are in favour of delaying Brexit. There is also likely to be a lengthy transition period. So the Tier 2 Sponsor Licence and Tier 2 visa system could be with us for some time.
On February 13, a vote to approve acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) that deals with US visa enforcement, Ronald Vitiello, as the permanent head of the agency, was blocked by the US Senate Homeland Security Committee. Vitiello is Trump’s nominee for the role, but a union representing US immigration officers opposed Vitiello’s appointment.
A press release published by Migration Watch on the morning of February 13 claimed that post-Brexit, UK visa proposals could lead to record levels of immigration. However, just hours later, the so-called independent, non-political think-tank issued a second press release withdrawing the claim.