National academies join forces to oppose £30,000 threshold

The UK’s four national academies have said that a proposed £30,000 salary threshold for skilled migrants applying for Tier 2 visas from Europe could severely affect the recruitment of research technicians and language assistants.

The government is consulting on whether such a salary threshold for skilled migrants should be part of a post-Brexit immigration system that offers no preferential treatment to migrants from the European Economic Area. The EEA covers the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Academy said in a joint statement on 28 May that the threshold would be “detrimental for research and innovation”.