To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Immigration on 23 June (HC189553), what progress they have made towards negotiating bilateral youth mobility schemes with EU countries, particularly France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Answered on
22 November 2023
The UK remain open to negotiating Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories, including EU Member States. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK nationals, with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur.
We have recently agreed new YMS arrangements with Andorra and Uruguay. From 31 January 2024, nationals of these countries will be eligible to travel to and experience life in the UK for up to 2 years.
We have also agreed to enhance our existing schemes with Australia, Canada and Japan. For Australian and Canadian citizens who are looking to take advantage of the UK’s YMS, the age range will be increased from 18-30 to 18-35 and they will have the option of extending their YMS visa for an additional year, taking the total length of stay in the UK from 2 to 3 years. UK citizens will also have the same access into those countries. The annual quota associated with the UK’s youth mobility arrangement with Japan will increase to 6,000 places on a reciprocal basis. We are intending to implement these enhancements on 31 January 2024.
We remain committed to expanding our YMS to more nations, including but not limited to those within the EU. Further details of additional YMS agreements will be announced once they are concluded.