> Why can't the UK have open borders to skilled immigrants and not so open to unskilled immigrants? You would have the extra friction of proving to the UK gove

> Why can't the UK have open borders to skilled immigrants and not so open to unskilled immigrants? You would have the extra friction of proving to the UK government that you are skilled. There would probably be a requirement for formal education, so self-taught programmers are in trouble. I admit I am speaking in my own interest here, as a Swedish person living and working in the UK. When I got a job here I just packed up my stuff and moved. I showed my passport to the border machine and that was it. If I needed a skilled worker visa, I would probably have had to pay a certified translator to translate my diploma, send in both translation and original, and hope they send them back. Do the same thing for a dozen other documents. The employer would need to submit something, which may be fine for Google but harder for a startup. Then wait for months, because the home office has no incentive to be quick.