19 Feb 2015

More New Zealanders working in UK

4:18 pm on 19 February 2015

More New Zealanders and Australians are working in Britain despite earlier fears that visa restrictions were excluding too many people.

New official figures showed 91,000 New Zealanders and Australians were working there, nine percent more than in 2013.

The latest statistics followed recent debate about the difficulties for Commonwealth citizens getting UK work visas.

British Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell has said visa rules were favouring Europeans over Commonwealth countries and he called for the system to be reformed.

The think-tank Commonwealth Exchange reported last year the number of New Zealanders and Australians moving to Britain from both countries had dropped sharply over the past decade because of visa restrictions.

Backed by London's mayor Boris Johnson, the report called for an easing of the rules, proposing a model similar to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement between Australia and New Zealand.

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