UK Announces Fast-Track Visa to Recruit Top Scientists

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the immigration program will help the nation remain a science superpower post-Brexit.

Ashley Yeager

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new fast-track visa to attract elite scientists to live and work in the UK, in light of the nation leaving the European Union later this year.

“I want the UK to continue to be a global science superpower, and when we leave the EU we will support science and research and ensure that, far from losing out, the scientific community has a huge opportunity to develop and export our innovation around the world,” Johnson says in a statement posted yesterday (August 8).

Immigration is a major concern for the scientific community post-Brexit, Science reports. The worry is that once the UK leaves the European Union (EU), scientists and technicians from EU countries will no longer get automatic rights to live and work in the UK and will need to navigate Britain’s current visa process, which is slow and ...

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Meet the Author

Ashley Yeager
Ashley started at The Scientist in 2018. Before joining the staff, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, a writer at the Simons Foundation, and a web producer at Science News, among other positions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT. Ashley edits the Scientist to Watch and Profile sections of the magazine and writes news, features, and other stories for both online and print.
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