Emigration Studies Continue to Warn Against Restricting Visas to Key Professions

Yet more research has come forward and revealed the very negative impact that could happen to the UK if there are restrictions made to some key professions. These findings raise some very significant questions in the debate over emigration policies and what the new government should do.

The leaders of all three main parties have already pledged to restrict emigration from outside the European Union. Access will only be granted to those who possess skills in short supply. However, such measures could stifle the number of entrepreneurs entering the UK or wishing to enter the UK.

A visiting professor of geography at King's College London, Richard Webber, said that until now the discussion about emigration has been about workers rather than entrepreneurs. There has been a tendency to say that the countryside is short of people picking vegetables so they need more Romanians, or they are short of nurses so they need more Nigerians. That is a reasonable debate to have, but the issue of entrepreneurship is different. In this area, it's not about shortages.

Experts are now agreeing that there has to be a different way to limit the amount of people coming into the UK. There are certain aspects that just cannot be accounted for by looking at shortages. On that same note, there are some areas where shortages have to be accounted for, and these kinds of emigrants need to be given top priority.

So what does this mean overall? Well it means that people do agree that emigration numbers are getting out of control. However, it also means that restricting all non-European visas is not a good idea.