Boris Johnson, London mayor, has proposed a new “London visa” which would make it easier for talented tech experts and fashion designers around the world to get jobs in the capital.
The plan, submitted to the Home Office, is an attempt by City Hall to boost tech start-ups and fashion ateliers that struggle with the bureaucracy and cost of the tightened visa system. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, told a London technology festival last week that the UK visa needed to “go much further” and be “easier to get” if London was to compete with Silicon Valley for the best brains from India and China.
Under the proposed system, City Hall would be given a yearly allocation of 100 of the government’s 1,000 existing “exceptional talent” visas – designed for world-class scientists, artists and performers.