The UK will make it easier to attract global talent at a time when the US is making it harder, the chancellor has said, in a direct reference to a recent overhaul of American visa policy.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a 50-fold hike in the cost of skilled-worker permits to $100,000 (£74,000), causing confusion as staff from US tech firms rushed back to the USA.
“While President Trump announced late last week that it will make it harder to bring talent to the US, we want to make it easier to bring talent to the UK,” Rachel Reeves said on Tuesday.
The BBC understands the government plans to double the number of high skilled foreign worker visas to around 18,000 a year.
Reeves comments come after the UK trumpeted a £150bn tech deal with the US during Trump’s second state visit.
Reeves was speaking at the opening of fintech giant Revolut’s new global headquarters in Canary Wharf, where the firm said it would invest £3bn in the UK and create 1,000 new jobs.
The firm is something of a test case for the government’s hopes to remove regulatory barriers to fast growing international companies.
Last week, Trump caused chaos in Silicon Valley by announcing an overhaul of the H-1B visa system used by the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft and others to hire top talent from overseas.
Many US tech workers, originally from other countries, who were outside of the US at the time of the announcement then scrambled to fly back – spending thousands of dollars in some cases.
By Saturday, the White House sought to calm the storm, clarifying that the fee applied only to new applicants and was a one-off. Yet, the long-standing H-1B programme – criticised for undercutting American workers but praised by tech firms – still faces an uncertain future.
Trump’s wife Melania Trump, Tesla chief executive and former Trump ally Elon Musk, Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella all held H-1B visas at one point.
During her speech at Revolut’s offices on Tuesday, Reeves was keen to stress the UK’s alternative approach.
“London isn’t just the capital of the United Kingdom, it is one of the two financial capitals in the world, and we want to differentiate ourselves from other countries around the world by being open to the best talent globally,” she said.
“So, while President Trump announced late last week that it will make it harder to bring talent to the US, we want to make it easier to bring talent to the UK.
“We are expanding our global talent and high potential individual visa routes, and we’re moving quickly to make those easier to access and more supportive of firms ambitions to bring talent here.”
Revolut was Founded by Russian born entrepreneur Nik Storonsky in 2015 and has amassed 65 million customers in 40 countries. It currently commands a valuation estimated at $75bn (£55bn), more than rival bank Barclays or social media site X (formerly Twitter).
What Revolut does not have is a full UK banking licence, despite having applied for one in 2021. Its current provisional licence prevents it from offering mortgages or taking deposits more than £50,000.
The firm has been heavily criticised in the past for its issues with fraud.
A BBC investigation has previously found that Revolut was named in more reports of fraud in the 2023/24 financial year than any of the major High Street banks.
The firm said, at the time, it took fraud incredibly seriously and it had “robust controls” to meet its legal and regulatory obligations.
Revolut Chair Sir Martin Gilbert told the BBC UK regulators had been slow, but he said he was hopeful a full licence was not far away.
“They are cautious – they have never seen growth like it – this is a bank adding two million customers a month. But it will be soon I hope.”
Earlier this year, Rachel Reeves summoned several major regulators including financial watchdogs to number 11 to urge them to prioritise growth.
The UK is Revolut’s biggest single market with 11 million customers but despite choosing London as its global HQ, the company refuses to be drawn on whether it will eventually list its shares on the London stock market.
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