EU academics: we want you in the UK and you will not be asked to leave

Even if we believe that any process will be entirely painless and that this continues to be true for new academic immigrants in the future, the real problem is not whether immigrant academics will be *allowed* to stay/come but whether they will *want* to come in an environment seen as increasingly hostile to immigrants.

The sector has suffered badly since 52% of the British people voted to kick immigrants including academics out. Does the minister genuinely believe this rubbish that he has written? If so, God help us in HE as our minister is thick.

The issue here is not so simple. It is not just a case of those who are here already but those that potentially will not come. This comes down to the whole eco system, which includes -- how will people's children be treated, what is the process and costs to EU graduate students who may choose to stay, what will other institutions across the continent do to take advantage of the unsettled circumstances, and so on. Just saying that those who are here will go through a 'painless process' to stay says little about what the situation will be for those who could have chosen to come in 2020 but will choose to go elsewhere, be they faculty, post-docs or PhD students. As a foreigner in the UK it is pretty clear that the environment is not the most welcoming now and will be less so in the future. It is also the case that the government and the opposition have taken to using the university sector as a political football and in the end many people will simply look at the situation and say "why bother?".

I do not for a moment believe that we are welcome. Like other EU citizens who work in UK academia, the UK was my destination of choice in part because it is open, meritocratic, there is lots of opportunity for obtaining external funds (which will be severely diminished if we cannot bid for ERC funds anymore). I had a job offer in the US which I declined in part because of the difficulties with visas, green cards, and my spouse finding a job in the US (which was difficult at the time with the highly restrictive H4 visa). Meanwhile, I see my non-EU colleagues struggle. An American colleague of mine needs to pay up for his own visas etc, some people are denied Indefinite Leave to Remain because they have been too long out of the country. Several instances of this are anthropologists, political scientists, and archaeologists, who worked abroad for too many months (even if it was for their UK institution, and they continue to pay UK NI and council tax). A US academic I know got worrisome messages about his visa renewal saying that it was an extraordinarily difficult case and so that it would take longer. He was unable to sleep properly and severely anxious. Even though he had not been out of the country for longer than allowed, had all the paperwork to document his stay, worked above the minimum income threshold... he still knew that if the HO screwed up he would be powerless and might be deported, having to argue his case from the US. And here is another thing, written by a friend: "Today lunch with a soon-to-be former non-EU colleague with a PhD: old passport with valid work visum expired, with no option of transferring the still-valid work visum to the new passport. Had to apply again for work visum and was denied, which means that colleague, spouse, and children (one of them born here) will have to leave the UK." - soon that will be us, and there is nothing we can do but vote with our feet. UK academia currently attracts many EU citizen scholars - many of whom have landed prestigious ERC, AHRC, Wellcome and other grants - because there is not the hassle with visas, possible deportations etc. It is certainly not because of the workload and admin, which is significantly higher than in many EU countries. The pay is also modest - equivalent places in the US have higher wages, for example. So I do expect a steady trickle away, and failure to attract new candidates if this hostile environment policy does not stop.