Top UK scientist says research visa restrictions endanger economy

Prof Sir Paul Nurse, one of Britain’s most distinguished scientists, asserts that the government’s visa system for science researchers is putting the country at a disadvantage.

Sir Paul informed BBC News that the high visa fees are discouraging early-career researchers, while the UK’s economic rivals are welcoming them instead.

Supporters of the current system argue that higher visa costs contribute to funding the NHS and address broader public concerns about immigration.

Nobel Prize-winning scientist

But the Nobel Prize-winning scientist says the UK’s scientific future is being put at risk.

“Having expensive visa costs is counterproductive.” It absolutely doesn’t help in attracting these sorts of people,” Sir Paul said.

Sir Paul, who has taken over as President of the Royal Society, which represents the UK’s leading scientists, warns that countries such as China and Singapore are actively courting overseas scientific talent.

“Why do we put hurdles in the way of the people who are actually going to drive our economy? It makes zero sense.”

The Nobel Prize winner describes the UK’s science base as “fragile” because of a combination of steep visa costs, funding pressures and the negative effects of current immigration rules.

He urges ministers to rethink a system that forces scientists to pay an annual NHS surcharge and to prove they have thousands of pounds in the bank before they arrive.

Official guidance on the Immigration Health Surcharge explains that visa applicants pay the surcharge to help fund their healthcare.

Home Office guidance states that applicants must show set levels of savings to prove they can support themselves “without recourse to public funds.”

The Centre for Policy Studies, a centre-right think tank, argues in its report Taking Back Control for net migration to be brought back down to the “tens of thousands”.

But its policy expert on the issue, Karl Williams, broadly agrees with Sir Paul’s sentiments but argues that a tight overall migration limit must be maintained after a historically large recent surge in immigration.

“The wave of immigration we had between 2021 and 2024 is probably the single most significant demographic event in modern British history… If you say yes to one sector, then you start saying yes to other sectors, and you actually just recreate the problems of recent years.”

According to Home Office visa statistics, the total number of people receiving a visa for a job in natural and social science in the last quarter was 323 people.

“Even if you doubled that, that wouldn’t make a huge difference to the overall migration numbers,” Mr Williams told BBC News.

“But there is no robust system to make that work, for example, having conversations about where numbers can be reduced to let more scientists in.”