IS UK-EU YOUTH MOBILITY VISA ON THE CARDS?

UK Youth Mobility visa Scheme is a form of
working holiday visa for young people who wish to come to the UK
and experience UK life. This is a reciprocal visa scheme under
which people up to a certain age limit are able to apply for
fixed-term visas to travel and work in the other country, without
meeting eligibility requirements for other types of visa such as
salary thresholds. The UK already has Youth Mobility visa Schemes
with a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, San Marino, Monaco,
Iceland and India.

Since Brexit, the possibility of reciprocal Youth Mobility
Scheme between the UK and EU has been discussed but so far has not
materialised. The topic has returned this year again and our
article focuses on the recently published Report on the future UK-EU relationship that
recommends introducing Youth Mobility visa for EU nationals.

RECOMMENDATION FOR RECIPROCAL UK YOUTH MOBILITY SCHEME FOR EU
NATIONALS

European Affairs Committee produced Report on the future UK-EU
relationship 4th Report of Session 2022-23 -
published 29 April 2023 – HL Paper 184. This Report concludes
that many of the barriers to business and professional mobility
highlighted by representatives of various sectors of UK economy may
be partially addressed through a reciprocal youth mobility
arrangement with the EU and/or individual Member States. For this
reason the Report proposed that the UK and the EU should negotiate
a youth mobility visa arrangement.

The current staff shortages in many sectors of UK economy may
mean that this time there is a good chance that Youth Mobility
Scheme for EU nationals may be introduced. The young Europeans may
certainly help to plug the staff shortages and boost the
economy.

From the UK government’s perspective in terms of limiting
the net immigration, Youth Mobility visas should not cause concern
as the Youth Mobility visas are temporary and do not lead to
permanent residence. This is another reason why Youth Mobility
Scheme may ultimately be introduced for EU nationals.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REPORT -
POST-BREXIT EU-UK MOBILITY

According to the Report, Post-Brexit changes to
arrangements for mobility between the UK and the EU have had a
particularly significant impact on younger people. The Report
therefore recommends that the Government should approach the EU
about the possibility of entering negotiations around an ambitious
reciprocal youth mobility partnership. In common with existing
youth mobility arrangements that the UK and individual EU Member
States have agreed with other jurisdictions, this would allow young
people to apply for fixed-term visas to travel and work in the
other partner on preferential terms.

The Report further states that ‘the
simplicity of agreeing with the Commission a single youth mobility
arrangement that applies across the EU (rather than 27 separate
arrangements) is attractive to the UK. They therefore recommend
that as a first step the Government explores this possibility with
the EU rather than negotiating it separately with each EU Member
State.

The Report further recommends that ‘any
such scheme should ideally be reciprocal, that numbers should be
capped and that participants should have no automatic permanent
residence rights in the country that they visit.

The Report finally states that the
establishment of a UK-EU youth mobility partnership would have
little impact on wider levels of immigration.

BENEFITS OF ANY POTENTIAL EU-UK YOUTH MOBILITY SCHEME

There is potentially a long list of benefits for the UK that can
result from introducing reciprocal EU- UK Youth Mobility Scheme.
The UK economy, especially businesses in sectors such as the food
industry and hospitality, experience acute labour shortages and the
young Europeans could be the help those businesses need.

Head of Trade Policy at the
British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), stated that there had been
a “massive fall in the number of lower-skilled workers who
have been able to come into the UK”. He suggested that there
was a link between this trend and the well-documented labour
shortages that have recently been experienced in some sectors.
Based on membership surveys conducted by the BCC, it identified
hospitality, catering and tourism; transport, logistics and
storage; and production and manufacturing, as among those sectors
that had been most severely impacted by closure of free movement
for EU nationals after Brexit. The impact is particularly
significant on small businesses as they are less able to absorb
additional costs that are now associated with recruitment from the
EU, such as sponsorship licence and sponsored work visa fees, compared to larger
organisations.

There are certainly many potential advantages of introducing the
Youth Mobility Scheme for EU nationals. However, the decision is
ultimately with the UK government to take the steps.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.