PCS member forced to leave UK due to Skilled Worker Visa rules

Due to the low levels of pay in DWP, and an anomaly in the calculation of hours worked, PCS members who have previously worked on graduate visas, following completion of university degree courses, cannot access a Skilled Worker Visa and remain working in DWP as they do not meet the salary threshold of £15.88 per hour.

Farouq completed a Master of Science in Business Analytics at the University of Stirling, paying over £22,000 in tuition fees. Since then he has been working in the DWP as a case enforcement manager in Child Maintenance Service and has been dedicated to ensuring children receive the financial support they are owed. Farouq has made a built a life and made friends here and has made significant financial and emotional investments to the UK.

Farouq added his personal story to the letter sent to the prime minister on behalf of PCS by the general secretary Fran Heathcote and DWP group president Angela Grant.

Fran and Angela set out PCS’s opposition to the Conservative government’s changes to the UK Home Office immigration rules, and in particular, to the Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship salary thresholds.

The letter asks the prime minister to intervene urgently and points out that “Recent government announcements have focused on helping people back into work and increased commitments to support the unemployed, but this cannot be delivered without experienced staff and announcements about supporting people back into work are at odds with the treatment of these members.”

Angela Grant and national president Martin Cavanagh met with Farouq at the DWP group executive committee meeting last week where he was presented with a national PCS New Activist award.