History, Highly Skilled Immigration and Development in England

This book intends to review the' de jure' and 'de facto' immigration policy in England from a historical perspective. Todays 'Tier 1' points based immigration system in the UK was born out of the Highly Skilled Migrant Program (HSMP) and even through the latest migration policy rules, scientists were exempted from tougher UK immigration rules. Although the Highly Skilled Migrant Program as an immigration policy scheme was introduced only in 2002, with effect in 2006, it finds its ideological roots and its background in practices in the 19th century. Can we say that there were some sort of migratory policies in the 19th century in England to attract highly qualified foreigners? And if so, in what sense we can say that this can be seen as the sources for the current HSMP? These are some of the questions we ponder with this historical review.