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Amid Trump’s H-1B fee scare, the UK attracts foreign student talent
Britain sends out “clear signal to exceptional talent and businesses that the UK seeks to continue its global leadership in growth-driving sectors”.
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Staff Reporter - Wed, 24, Sep 2025
- 01:03 EDT
- 16
Representative Image / Pexels
The British government is already finalizing plans to review its student and special visa norms to attract global talent, particularly Indian, even as across the ocean, the Americans do just the opposite by hiking H-1B visa fees many times over.
The government is proceeding simultaneously on two fronts. At the policy level, it has unveiled plans to make it easier for innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and creatives to come to the UK to live and work in the country.
As a second step, the government has set up a “Global Talent Taskforce” to support researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top tier managerial and engineering talent and high-calibre creatives “to relocate and work closely with the UK’s international presence to network and build a pipeline of talent who want to come to Britain”.
The recommendations are part of a reforms report, titled The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, released in June 2025.
Among the main suggestions is to “temporarily exempt occupations crucial to the delivery of the Industrial Strategy from the planned increase to the threshold for the Skilled Worker visa”.
The report explains: “These exemptions will apply via the new Temporary Shortage List, which will be published shortly. The list includes occupations from across the breadth of our frontier industries such as welders, laboratory, computer-aided design (CAD), IT, and engineering technicians, and data analysts.” The final list will be reviewed in Spring 2026.
This is backed by introducing “a capped and targeted expansion of the High Potential Individual route for top graduates and doubling the number of qualifying universities in line with the start of the next academic year”.
A key component is reforming the “Global Talent visa” to make it more accessible to promising top talent. “This will include expanding the range of fellowships which grant access to the Global Talent visa and by making the visa accessible to a broader range of design talent.”
Alongside, the government proposes to “also review our Innovator Founder visa so that entrepreneurial talent currently studying at UK universities can move onto it more easily”.
The Taskforce was launched recently with a £54 million Global Talent Fund. Beginning this year, it proposes to attract world-class researchers and their teams to the UK, covering relocation and research costs over five years. The government informed its Parliament that it is a “clear signal to exceptional talent and businesses that the UK seeks to continue its global leadership in growth-driving sectors”.
The UK Prime Minister and Chancellor will directly oversee the Global Talent Taskforce. They have identified a three-pronged approach:
- Facilitate support researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top tier managerial and engineering talent and high-calibre creatives to relocate.
- Work to identify and approach top talent to move to the UK.
- Work closely with the UK’s international presence to network and build a pipeline of talent who want to come to Britain
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said in a statement: “The launch of the Taskforce and 54-million-pound Global Talent Fund, which will attract world-class researchers and their teams to the UK, covering relocation and research costs over five years starting this year, sends a clear signal to exceptional talent and businesses that the UK seeks to continue its global leadership in growth-driving sectors.”
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