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Skilled migrants from outside Europe are to be banned from having a further 70,000 jobs under new rules Skilled migrants from outside Europe are to be banned from having a further 70,000 jobs, including as vets and orchestral musicians, under the latest official revision of Britain’s shortage occupation list, published on Monday. The proposal from the migration advisory committee, which is likely to be endorsed by the home secretary, Theresa May, will reduce the number of jobs open to highly skilled migrants from outside Europe from 260,000 currently to 190,000. More than 1 million jobs were originally open to skilled migrants from outside Europe under tier two of the points-based immigration system, introduced three years ago. The actual number of tier-two skilled migrants coming to work in shortage occupations is limited to 20,700 a year, and applications are running at just over half of the limit. The proposal to cut the number of skilled jobs open to migrant workers follows recent figures showing a 21% rise in net migration to the UK in 2010, to 239,000. Twenty-nine occupations are to be excluded from the latest shortage occupation list, including secondary school biology teachers, consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology, veterinary surgeons and “tutti” or rank and file orchestral musicians, which excludes the top level of performers. A further 33 occupations are to be added to the shortage list, including 2D/3D video games and film animators, consultants in emergency medicine, environmental scientists, geochemists and managers involved in decommissioning nuclear power stations. Professor David Metcalf, the chairman of the migration advisory committee, said: “Although the proportion of the labour market covered by our new recommended list is lower than before, our recommendation will have only a limited impact on migration volumes because overall migration through tier two is limited. “However, the list is more selective than before: it is targeted specifically on those job titles where there is currently a clear evidence of shortage.” Immigration and asylum Theresa May Alan Travis guardian.co.uk