|
Wealthy foreign businessmen will be exempt from new requirements to
learn English before moving to Britain if they can prove they have at least 1million pounds in the bank.
The proposal is part of the Government's new points-based scheme for
gaining residency, designed to encourage greater integration into British
culture by immigrants.
However, the very rich, such as Russian oil billionaires, will not
need to pass strict language tests under a quota system, as long as they can
prove they have ?1 million in a "regulated financial institution and
disposable in the UK".
The new system for highly skilled workers, which comes into force in
less than three months, also requires millionaire businessmen and women to
invest 750,000 pounds within three months of their entry into Britain.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, defended the loophole, saying
rich people such as the Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich were
welcome in Britain.
"Millionaires bring jobs and investment to Britain," he said. "It is
probably not a good idea to shut them out."
But opposition politicians questioned why "fat cats" were being given
special treatment.
Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said:
"Foreign millionaires should not be waved through immigration controls just
by flashing their bank statements.
"They should at least pass a language test if they want to settle and
invest here for the long term."
The exemption emerged at a meeting of the Lords select committee on
economic affairs earlier this week, when Mr Byrne told peers: "What we do
not want to do is cut off the opportunity of bringing in large amounts of
capital that are going to be invested in productive things - you have to
apply a balance."
Mr Byrne said Japanese engineering firms had expressed concern that
they would not be able to move senior managers to Britain.
"They are quite nervous about the type of English requirements we
would insist on," he said.
A Home Office spokesman said millionaires would still be required to
fulfil other criteria, such as proving they did not have a criminal record.
"You could not win the lottery and then just show up at a UK airport
asking to be let in," he said.
Ministers are keen to make Britain, and London in particular, an
attractive place for wealthy foreigners, despite fears over the lack of
input to the Treasury of so-called "non-doms" - non domiciles.
At last year's Conservative conference, George Osborne, the shadow
Chancellor, said that if elected he would pay for a cut in stamp duty for
all but the very wealthy by levying a 25,000 pounds-a-year annual charge to
register as a non-dom.
In his Budget, Alistair Darling said he would introduce a 30,000 pounds levy
on non-doms.
However, he denied Tory claims that this would raise as much as 3.5 billion pounds a year.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/18/nmigrants118.xml
| 
