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East and West Leaders Forum

Thank you. It is a pleasure to be at the launch of this exciting
new series of events promoting greater ties between East and
West.

Alok, I know you have been the driving force into putting this
idea into fruition and I want to congratulate you on doing such
an excellent job. It is terrific to see so many business leaders
from Germany, India, China and the UK in this room, and it is
particularly good to see and particularly good to see that the
High Commissioner is here today.

This week Britain is hosting the sixth UK-China Economic
Financial Dialogue. My colleague the Chancellor has been
welcoming Vice Premier Ma Kai and his team. I mention this
because such events demonstrate the great importance the
Government places on our relationship with China, as well as
our continued commitment to strengthening the ties between
our two countries. I am delighted that we are seeing ever
greater numbers of Chinese visitors and students coming to the
UK, alongside record levels of investment and trade.


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India and Germany are also long-standing and highly valued
friends and I welcome this opportunity to develop our
relationships with business leaders in those countries. I want to
see ever more Indian and German visitors discovering for
themselves what this country has to offer.

The theme of this inaugural event is: Generating Growth,
Promoting Dialogue: What East and West can learn from one
another. And today I want to talk about the role of immigration.

Normally, when I talk about immigration it is about the
importance of ensuring it is properly controlled. Thats because
when immigration isnt properly controlled it makes it difficult to
maintain social cohesion, puts pressure on our public services
and infrastructure, and forces down wages for people on low
incomes.

Government reforms have cut net migration by a quarter since
the peak under the last government proving that where we
are legally able to control immigration we can reduce numbers,
with non-EU net migration close to its lowest level since the late
1990s.



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But controlling immigration doesnt just mean reducing the
numbers, it also means attracting the brightest and best.

So today I want to talk about the role a well managed
immigration system can play in promoting prosperity, providing
educational opportunities, enabling the exchange of culture,
knowledge and ideas, and encouraging greater friendship
between our countries.

The benefits of a well managed immigration system are deeply
rooted in British values, and reflect our openness as an
economy and society, our liberalism and our tolerance.

And as I, and the Government, appreciate, if this country is to
succeed and win the competition for global talent, then we must
be able to attract that talent from whatever it is to be found.

So I want to say to everyone here today: Britain is open for
business and we welcome you here.

An improved work and student visa offer

As I have just said, we want to attract the brightest and best.
That is why we have made much needed changes for those
who want to come here to work and study.
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We have transformed the immigration routes for migrant
workers by closing the Tier 1 General route in which a third of
migrants were unemployed or in low skilled work, and reserved
the Tier 2 route for skilled jobs only. As a result we have seen
an increase in sponsored visa applications for highly skilled
workers up 16% in the last year.

We have reduced red tape and increased flexibility for
businesses through a raft of measures, including allowing Tier
2 visas to be granted for up to 5 years rather than the previous
3 years.

We have introduced a new route for the exceptionally talented
in science, humanities, engineering, digital technology and the
arts. In April the latest body to join this route was Tech City UK
which has 200 places available for top tech talent.


And we have made a range of provisions for graduates looking
to work in the UK after their studies here, including a new
Graduate Entrepreneur route the first of its kind in the world,
with nearly 100 universities signed up.

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The principle we applied to work routes, we have also applied
to those who want to come here to study.

So we have taken action to make sure that students who want
to come to Britain really are students.

Those applying must now speak adequate English, be able to
support themselves financially, and be sponsored by a genuine
college or university.

In addition, we require institutions to adhere to our rules and to
prove they are selling education not immigration and as a
result we have already removed around 750 bogus colleges
from the list of those entitled to bring students into Britain.

But importantly, there is no limit on student numbers and
these changes mean a better deal for legitimate students,
increasing protection from poor quality colleges and
substandard education.

As a result students continue to flock here, and we remain the
second most popular destination for international higher
education students.

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The latest figures show a 5% increase in the number of
sponsored student visas applications for universities and a rise
of 8% for Russell Group universities in the 12 months to June
2014. Over the same period, we have seen strong growth in the
number of study visas granted to countries such as China up
7%, Brazil up 115%, and Malaysia up 23%, while the
number of student visitor visas issued has also increased by
8%.

UK Visas and Immigration: customer satisfaction

So our reforms are working. The UK is open for business and
we remain an attractive destination for global talent.

But in todays international marketplace, it is also vitally
important that we have a visas and immigration system that is
modern and efficient and can compete well with other
countries.

That is why we have transformed the immigration and border
system, abolished the UK Border Agency, and established
three new operational commands. One of which, UK Visas and
Immigration, is the command responsible for making millions of
decisions every year about who has the right to visit or stay in
the UK.
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It has a strong customer service ethos, and a range of
enhanced services for valued applicants and businesses.

And over the past two years, we have been listening carefully
to the views of British businesses and travel companies so that
we can continue to improve our visa offer particularly to
Chinese and Indian visitors.

Excellent service for Chinese and Indian visitors

We have introduced a raft of changes to our Chinese visa
service helping to ensure it is truly excellent.

We have upgraded our entire network of twelve Visa
Application Centres in China to increase capacity.

We have made our processes less bureaucratic, ensure fast-
turn around times and offer appointments out of working hours.

We have extended our 3-5 day priority service.

We have introduced a Passport Pass Back service so that
customers can retain their passport while their UK visa
application is being processed.

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And we offer a VIP Mobile Visa Service for high-value travellers
who would like the convenience of visa staff going directly to
them to collect the biometric data necessary for a visa.

These initiatives are proving increasingly popular, and in June I
announced a range of further measures.

Improvements to our online application process make it
simpler, more user-friendly, with translated and intuitive
questions, asking customers only questions necessary for their
individual application.

The process also allows those applying online to automatically
generate a partially completed Schengen form at the same time
as completing their UK application.

Within the first two months thousands of customers have used
this application form with just over a third pressing the print
partially completed Schengen form option.

A new Super Priority 24 hour visa service is building on the
popularity of the 3-5 day service.

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We are expanding our on-demand Mobile Visa Service to the
areas surrounding the 12 of the cities where we have
application centres.

And this autumn we will be launching the British-Irish Visa
Scheme which will allow Chinese and Indian nationals to visit
the UK and Ireland on a single visa.

All these changes are delivering results. They provide greater
flexibility and choice. And we know they have been welcomed
by many travellers and tour operators in China.

In the year to June 2014 we issued almost 390,000 visas to
Chinese nationals, up 22% on the year to June 2013.

Chinese nationals who apply for a British visa are very likely to
get one with 96% of Chinese visit visas approved.

And of all the UKs visa operations worldwide, in 2013 we saw
the biggest increase in visitor numbers from China.

Our visa offer in India is equally impressive. There we have the
UKs largest visa operation in the world and more visa
application centres than any other competitor country.

We offer a range of enhanced services including a 3-5 day
priority service to visitors who have previously travelled to the
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UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or a Schengen
country. We also offer a Passport Back Service, a Prime Time
appointment service and premium service lounge facilities in
selected cities, and a Business Network with dedicated UK visa
staff to assist businesses with their visa requirements.

India was the first country where we introduced our Super
Priority Visa Service which allows general and business visitors
who have travelled to the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada or a Schengen country within the last five years. to get
their visa processed in just 24 hours. It is also available to visa
applicants sponsored by companies who are members of our
Business Express Scheme.

And we offer frequent travellers to the UK multiple entry long
term visit visas, valid for up to 10 years.

In the last year we processed over 400,000 visas in India and
90% of Indian customers who applied for a visa got one.

And in the year to June 2014 the average processing time for a
visa was just over 6 days with 97% of applications were
processed within our 15 working day target.


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But there is more we can do

But I know we must continue to make improvements if we are
going to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace.

Importantly, we are working to make it much easier for Chinese
people to visit the UK and Europe on the same trip.

We are taking steps to further align the process of applying for
a UK visa with the Schengen visa process in China through the
development of a Single Visa Application Centre visit concept.
This would enable customers who visit a UK application centre
to submit both UK and Schengen visa applications at the same
time. Customers will then receive their decisions back by
courier avoiding the need to return to the application centre.

This will require the support of the Chinese, the European
Commission and the relevant Member State so it is a
complicated process, but we are getting there.

We have designed a technical process to do this and are in
advanced talks with the authorities in China to secure the
necessary permissions, and European partners to encourage
their participation in this innovative scheme.
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I hope that in the near future we can move to a pilot project,
given the positive nature of the discussions we have had so far
with our Chinese and European partners.

Transit Visas

But while that work is ongoing, today I am pleased I can
announce significant changes to the UKs transit regime.

Transit passengers can play an important part in ensuring
routes are viable for airlines. In the coming months I will
introduce a package of measures that will make it easier for
more passengers to transit airside through the UK without a
visa.

These changes will allow more people to use an exemption
document, such as a valid US visa, to transit through the UK
rather than having to obtain a UK transit visa.

I recognise that airlines place considerable importance on the
current exemption documents that already exempt passengers
flying on their extensive North American networks, from having
to hold a UK transit visa. Therefore I am making changes to
facilitate more airside transit. Holders of visas issued by
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Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA will be able to
use them to transit the UK to anywhere in the world, not just
when they are en-route to or from those countries.

For example we estimate up to 6 million holders of Australian,
Canadian, New Zealand and US visas from China alone could
benefit from this change and use the UK to transit visa-free.
Irish biometric visas will also be added to the list of exemption
documents which can be used for transit, and I will also include
on a trial basis the Schengen Approved Destination Status
scheme visa thus allowing around 210,000 Chinese travellers a
year travelling to the Schengen area on that visa to do so, via
the UK, without an additional UK visa.

In July I lifted the transit visa on Colombian nationals, and as a
result of this we have seen the creation of a direct flight
between Heathrow and Bogota. I now plan to lift the airside
transit visa requirement on nationals of Ecuador, Bolivia and
Montenegro.

The airside transit visa fee will be reduced to 30, making us
cheaper for transit than any of our EEA counterparts.

At the same time to make our transit regime more secure, I will
also close an unacceptable loophole in our landside transit
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arrangements which currently allow some visa nationals to
enter the UK purely on the basis of an onward ticket, without
any advance checks either by us or one of our trusted partners.
Instead all visa nationals transiting landside will require a
visitor in transit visa or an exemption document to enter if the
UK.


These measures reflect a step change in our transit
arrangements they offer a more flexible approach for transit
passengers, greater certainty about when a transit visa is
needed, and cheaper visas all helping to ensure that our world
class airports and airlines continue to be competitive and attract
more international travellers and business visitors.

But, most importantly, they draw the right balance between
security and growth.

Conclusion

Britain is open for business. We welcome legitimate students,
tourists, business travellers and people who want to come to
this country to contribute.

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The changes we have put in place are ensuring that Britain
remains an attractive destination, a place where people want to
come to work hard, study and enjoy our tourist attractions.

Today we have made further changes to a transit regime, and I
hope we can continue to make improvements to ensure a
system which is as efficient as possible.

As i said earlier, Britain is open to the brightest and best. And I
want to see Chinese, Indian, German and many other visitors
from around the world coming here to and enjoying all the great
things this country has to offer.

ENDS