Rich immigrants avoid English language test
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Daily Telegraph
Last Updated: 2:07am GMT 18/01/2008
Wealthy foreign businessmen will be exempt from new requirements to learn
English before moving to Britain if they can prove they have at least
£1million in the bank.
The proposal is part of the Government's new points-based scheme for gaining
residency, designed to encourage greater integration into British culture by
immigrants.
However, the very rich, such as Russian oil billionaires, will not need to
pass strict language tests under a quota system, as long as they can prove
they have £1 million in a "regulated financial institution and disposable in
the UK".
The new system for highly skilled workers, which comes into force in less
than three months, also requires millionaire businessmen and women to invest
£750,000 within three months of their entry into Britain.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, defended the loophole, saying rich
people such as the Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich were welcome
in Britain.
"Millionaires bring jobs and investment to Britain," he said. "It is
probably not a good idea to shut them out."
But opposition politicians questioned why "fat cats" were being given
special treatment.
Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: "Foreign
millionaires should not be waved through immigration controls just by
flashing their bank statements.
"They should at least pass a language test if they want to settle and invest
here for the long term."
The exemption emerged at a meeting of the Lords select committee on economic
affairs earlier this week, when Mr Byrne told peers: "What we do not want to
do is cut off the opportunity of bringing in large amounts of capital that
are going to be invested in productive things - you have to apply a
balance."
Mr Byrne said Japanese engineering firms had expressed concern that they
would not be able to move senior managers to Britain.
"They are quite nervous about the type of English requirements we would
insist on," he said.
A Home Office spokesman said millionaires would still be required to fulfil
other criteria, such as proving they did not have a criminal record.
"You could not win the lottery and then just show up at a UK airport asking
to be let in," he said.
Ministers are keen to make Britain, and London in particular, an attractive
place for wealthy foreigners, despite fears over the lack of input to the
Treasury of so-called "non-doms" - non domiciles.
At last year's Conservative conference, George Osborne, the shadow
Chancellor, said that if elected he would pay for a cut in stamp duty for
all but the very wealthy by levying a £25,000-a-year annual charge to
register as a non-dom.
In his Budget, Alistair Darling said he would introduce a £30,000 levy on
non-doms.
However, he denied Tory claims that this would raise as much as £3.5 billion
a year.
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