Norton Rose has failed to secure a work permit for one of its future trainees and has had to turn away a handful of Indian interns as the legal sector continues to grapple with the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) points-based work permit system.
The Government’s controversial decision to introduce a temporary?cap?on?the number of non-EU migrants entering the UK is likely to impact on all international firms, potentially preventing them from making lateral hires from non-EU markets or moving lawyers from overseas offices to London.
The temporary cap was announced by the coalition on 29 June and came into force on 19 July. Under the new rules firms have had individual quotas slammed on them based on the number of work permits issued to them between July 2009 and March 2010. Firms that secured six permits during that period have had their allocation of so-called Tier 2 visas, which cover trainee recruitment and lateral hires, slashed by 15 per cent.
The cap also covers existing employees whose work permits are about to expire, but excludes partners and some associates who can enter the UK under a Tier 1 visa. These are only awarded to individuals who satisfy stringent rules on minimum age, savings and earnings.
However, Tier 1 visas are covered by a temporary quota of 600 work permits per month for embassies throughout the world.
Human resources departments?have expressed concerns about the cap, which is expected to become?a?permanent feature. In recent years a growing number of firms, including Herbert Smith, Linklaters, SJ Berwin and Norton Rose, have developed strong links with Indian universities and have regularly run recruitment trips there to cherry-pick the best graduates.
One graduate recruitment partner told The Lawyer: "The cap is going to be an issue for many law firms. The reason we go to places such as India and Australia is because they operate a common law system, so it’s not the same as hiring lawyers from France or Germany, which are civil law jurisdictions."
Norton Rose is now in the process?of?reapplying for the trainee’s work permit, but it is also exploring the possibility of placing them with an overseas office. The trainee, who is an Indian national, was due to join Norton Rose this month.
The Law Society is gathering feedback from law firms and planning to make submissions to both the UKBA and the Migratory Advisory Committee, which are running consultations prior to the introduction of permanent caps.
Norton Rose was not prepared to comment.
This article was first published in the UK's The Lawyer magazine.
New UK visa rules kill job offers for Indian lawyers
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bulls****. UK firms pay far more and give weekends off. usually work ends at 7. Indian firms make people work on saturdays and often sundays and work often ends at 10 pm to 2 am. the employee benefits are also superior.
NO job offer is getting killed. If a person is denied a visa, it just means this person would have to apply at a later time. This news is being blown up unnecessarily.
I request whoever has written this to get their head examined and also correct the title while they are at it.
@4 : the said nls grad has already got his work visa. There is another NUJS grad who was slated to join.
From a NRI Bean counter
I know many who left tcs to be in India close to family. Some just don't want to leave a joint family setup or ailing aging parents.
There is also the issue of work life balance, and I hope most of you who are about to choose their jobs realise how important it is. A weekend to yourself can actually provide you with a longer career, so many folks burn out if they are made to work every day of the week.
I really enjoyed the candour of #16 - Some people can't do without certain luxuries or even the warmer weather.
Why are we trying to rank or create a hierarchy between these jobs? The work profile and the returns are so different. It is like comparing apples and pears.
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