Last year, just 23,000 individuals participated in the UK Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS), a tiny fraction of the total net migration figure.
This scheme allows people from 12 countries to live and work in the UK for two to three years. Notably, since Brexit, there has been no exchange program with the EU, VisaGuide.World reports.
Most YMS visa holders in 2023 came from Australia, with 9,900 workers, followed by New Zealand, with 5,300 workers. According to Home Office data obtained by the Guardian, YMS is gaining popularity, with 15,259 new arrivals in the first half of 2024. However, this still represents a tiny fraction of the net migration 685,000 recorded in 2023.
As the Guardian reports, EU countries are drawing up new proposals for a bloc-wide mobility scheme with the UK after rejecting an earlier plan offered by Brussels in April.
This is a proposal from the EU Commission for EU member states, not for the UK. It has come about because the UK government is reportedly approaching other European countries to try to establish mobility arrangements.
Diplomats Discussed Shortening the Proposed EU-UK Youth Exchange Program
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a mobility scheme that would have enabled young people from the EU to live and work in the UK for the same duration. She emphasized that this initiative could foster “closer collaboration” between the UK and EU nations.
That proposal included a four-year exchange program for 18- to 30-year-olds, allowing them to study at each other’s universities and pay home students’ tuition fees. Since Brexit, EU students in the UK have faced tuition fees ranging from £16,000 to £59,000, and they can no longer use home fees.
University officials have indicated that reverting to home fees for EU students is financially not achievable, as it would effectively require UK students to subsidize their peers.
Diplomats from key EU member states—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands—are now discussing adjustments, potentially shortening the exchange program to three years. In contrast, the current UK youth mobility scheme caters to 12 non-affiliated countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Australia’s working holiday visa program is significantly larger, attracting 167,000 participants annually from 22 of the EU’s 27 nations and other countries, including the UK and Turkey. Meanwhile, Canada has successfully accepted 56,000 young people under its “international experience program,” with bilateral agreements with several EU nations like France and Germany.