AI minister promises UK visa fast-track for global talent
Britain will reimburse visa fees and speed up processing for international AI talent, as the government pushes to turn the country into a global hub for the technology.
Speaking at the London AI Hub last night, AI minister Kanishka Narayan said a new dedicated AI “talent stream” would sit by a broader effort to train British workers and back homegrown startups.
“With a dedicated AI stream for global talent, we are going to reimburse visa fees and accelerate visa processes, alongside a domestic obsession for training British kids in AI”, he told founders on Tuesday.
His pledge follows measures first trailed at Davos last month by Rachel Reeves, including fast-tracked sponsor licences for selected firms expanding in the UK, and support from a beefed-up global talent taskforce.
Narayan dubbed the move as part of a wider ambition to increase technology ownership in the UK.
He added: “Before we steer the wheel with our values, we need to get to the front of the bus. We need great British tech ownership before we can demand deeper British tech influence.”
Talent squeeze amid hiring slump
The visa push comes against a tight labour market in specialist tech roles, with new data from the British Chambers of Commerce showing 71 per cent of UK firms have invested in AI tools this year.
Yet, 40 per cent of small businesses admit lacking the internal skills to deploy and manage such changes.
Meanwhile, a recent KPMG and REC jobs report found that firms are choosing short term flexibility over long term contracts, as permanent placements continue to tumble.
Overall vacancies have now declined for 27 consecutive months.
Competition for high-end skills, on the other hand, remains high, with starting salaries for specialist roles in IT and AI rising at their fastest rate in nearly 18 months.
Narayan said Britain should combine overseas recruitment of such skills, with domestic training to stay competitive.
Last year, UK start-ups raised around $24bn in VC, up nearly 35 per cent year on year. AI firms accounted for nearly $8bn of that number.
The minister also said the UK had secured £68bn in AI infrastructure and research investment, and confirmed plans for a sovereign AI unit with £500m to back high potential UK firms.
But he acknowledged past failures to scale global champions: “No working-age person in this country has seen a startup go to the FTSE top 10”, he said.
Immigration routes
The UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched a year ago, recommended reviewing immigration rules to attract students from leading global universities.
Ministers have said they “partially agree” and will outline further measures in the upcoming Industrial Strategy.
Existing routes include the global talent visa and skilled work visa, and the scale-up visa, but UK PLC has long complained about costs and complexity.
Still, the new offer to reimburse visa fees for select AI experts should ease that burden.
This comes as net migration continues to fall sharply, with ministers insisting reforms are focused on attracting “the world’s brightest and best”, rather than expanding overall numbers.
As REC chief executive Neil Carberry said, firms are weighing “whether to create jobs in the UK or elsewhere, or which jobs need the human touch as opposed to an automated solution”.