British executives hit by visa block

BRITISH executives recruited by American firms are having to abandon new careers across the Atlantic because the US government is refusing to hand out any more work visas.

It has slashed the number of entry permits for white collar professionals this year, leaving scores of executives in a jobless limbo and hamstringing firms that have hired top British talent but are now unable to bring them to the US to work.

As well as being a nightmare for global headhunters, businesses afflicted include multinationals, the big four accountancy groups, IT firms, and Wall Street financial institutions.

'At the moment the US government is returning applications with the fees. Some professionals have already handed in their notice here in anticipation of a new job in America, while the firms there have been left short of staff,' said Abigail Stevens of Think Global Recruitment.

She said the visa shortage also threatens big British firms that want to send new executives on assignment to American subsidiaries. They have to be employed for at least a year before qualifying for a work visa on an internal company transfer.

A stubborn unemployment problem has led the US to cut the number of foreign-worker H-1B visas available worldwide in this tax year by 66% to about 65,000.