Jacob Zuma encourages South Africans to return home

President Zuma, on his first official state visit to the UK, made the comments at a special 1,000 guest invitational at London’s Dorchester Hotel. He told guests that young South Africans were ‘picking up valuable skills while working in the UK’ however encouraged them to return at some time in the future. The flow of young South African professionals to the UK has declined dramatically since the introduction of Tier 5 of the Points Based System back in November 2008. Before the introduction of Tier 5 (Youth Mobility) many young South Africans moved to the UK on Working Holidaymaker Visas, and many of these individuals gained sponsorship or qualified under the HSMP rules following the expiry of their initial visa. When Tier 5 was introduced over a year ago South Africans nationals were not included due to the lack of a reciprocal scheme. However, thousands of South African professionals still remain in the UK, many working as IT Consultants, Finance Professionals and Healthcare Workers etc. The vast majority of these individuals have no intention of returning to South Africa, choosing instead to build long term careers in the United Kingdom where greater opportunities exist and it is possible to earn significantly more money. Situations such as these have encouraged the UK Border Agency to make special provisions to facilitate ‘Circular Migration’ and thereby encourage skilled professionals to return to their homeland in order to contribute their skills and experience. The UK Border Agency is also seeking to reduce the number of individuals who are gaining British Citizenship, especially following recent political pressure from groups such as the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration who on the 6th January 2010 released a declaration calling for the major political parties to place in this year’s party election manifestos a firm commitment to do what is necessary to prevent UK population reaching 70 million by 2029. Commonwealth Contractors Commonwealth Contractors is a collection of highly skilled professionals from the Commonwealth and beyond. We partner with OISC Registered Immigration Partners capable of professionally representing a Tier 1 Visa Application / Extension and Tier 2 Licensed Consultancy & Associated Trust Partners who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor a doctor on a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). To find out more call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your details now and we will get right back to you. Please be prepared to send a copy of a recent CV so that we can pass to interested partners.