Recently, the Minister of State for Immigrations, James Brokenshire, has been garnering, and rightly so, a lot of negative publicity due to his ignorant and intellectually bankrupt speech in which he very foolishly seemed to take a dig at his own party’s Prime Minister, David Cameron. Also, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has been a common tabloid fixture thanks to being embroiled in a string of controversies. Despite all this, the Home Ministry seems to be making a few logical changes in rules relating to visas for the United Kingdom, which, surprisingly, don’t target or disadvantage a group of people, but instead, will help boost the United Kingdom’s economy.

One of the very best changes has been the introduction of the special Tier 1 exceptional talent visa. Under this scheme, any individual recognized as a leader or emerging leader in their respective field, be it the sciences or arts, is eligible to apply for a visa. Unlike the recent harebrained changes, this is a well thought out visa which allows an individual to stay for 3 years and 4 months. It allows you to work in the United Kingdom, bring over your family and also allows you multiple entries and exits into the United Kingdom.

To apply, all you need is an endorsement from the Home Office. This can easily be applied for by paying a nominal fee of 420 pounds. You can apply for the visa up to three months before the date of travel and will get a decision within three weeks. This visa scheme is aimed to attract high quality talent to the United Kingdom to work there and help further the country’s economy.

This change in visa policies allows British industries access to a better qualified workforce which can help the company grow, and hence, the nation develop. Delivering a surprisingly well thought out statement, Minister James Brokenshire conveyed that this scheme would help benefit the country and would also indirectly clamp down on the benefits enjoyed by illegal immigrants. He assured that this scheme had been introduced in alignment with the United Kingdom’s long term economic development goals in mind. A lot of technology companies were very pleased with the new introduction. They were relieved to finally get an easy access to world class talent, which is a necessity in the ever evolving technology industry.

Apart from this, a few other changes were introduced. These included a compulsory visa for all Venezuelan citizens, which was not required earlier. Also, the threshold of maintenance funds for international students entering on a Tier 4 visa was increased. This was done keeping in mind the rising costs of living in the United Kingdom. This measure was taken for migrant workers and their families too. All these new regulations will come into effect for applications made from the first of July this year. Thus, anyone planning a visit on a visa which requires maintenance funds will need to have held the funds for around 90 days prior to their application.