UK Immigration Policy alienates visiting academics and students

Tara Beall alerted AHM to the article, 'Points-based visa system alienates visitors to UK' (see link) in the Times.

Tara adds that "In addition to the serious concerns raised in the article regarding the difficulty that visiting academics and artists now face when attending conferences or giving lectures in the UK, there is a second and equally important problem with the new points-based visa system, which is quietly devastating the creative landscape of Glasgow: These visas are now awarded based almost solely on income. (For a Tier 1 Visa, applicants with Masters Degrees must be earning a minimum of between £20-25,000 annually). As you will all be aware, this is particularly difficult for recent graduates from most creative disciplines.

As a result, many recent GSA graduates have already been forced to leave Glasgow because they do not meet these new requirements. We can be assured this trend will continue unless the points-based visa system is reviewed."

Manifesto Club have launched a new campaign. You can do a number of things to help the campaign:

* Forward the link to The Times letter to your local MP, and any other MPs or Lords whom you have contact with, and tell them that you support the call to review the visa regulations and the points-based system.
* Visit the campaign page, they have a range of suggestions for further action: http://www.manifestoclub.com/visitingartists