Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove vets from the Tier two visa cap.

On 15 June, the Government announced a temporary change to the Tier 2 (General) cap. This is designed to address particular pressures facing the NHS at the current time but will mean that more spaces will be freed up within the cap for other sponsored high-skilled occupations, including vets. This change came into effect on 6 July and will be kept under review.

In parallel, we have commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a full review of the composition of the Shortage Occupation List. This review will enable the MAC to look at which posts are in national shortage and should be given priority within the Tier 2 cap in future. That review will conclude in Spring 2019.