If you’re thinking of inviting a designer, artist or architect from Russia, China, India, Brazil, or indeed Japan, to collaborate on a project in the UK, think again. On 27 November 2008 the Home Office’s UK Border Agency (UKBA) introduced a points-based system for employers and charitable organisations who wish to invite non-EU migrants into the UK. Its website describes the new points-based system as ‘the biggest shake up of the immigration system for 45 years.’ In order to invite a non-EU professional, organisations in the UK will have to sponsor that person.

To become a sponsor, companies and charities will have to complete an online application on the UKBA website. Various certified documents will have to be submitted, and there is the compulsory fee to pay the UKBA of £400 for charities, and £1,000 for non-charity organisations. Should you want to invite a skilled worker, under Tier Two of the system, this will set you back an additional £170 for each certificate of sponsorship (required by the migrant) or £10 if s/he is a temporary worker, under Tier Five.

So far all this sounds like a lot of bureaucratic and financial hassle, but look more closely at the guidance notes (a 130-page document) and the language reveals a massive degree of control on skilled and temporary migrant workers that polices and regulates their day-to-day activity. For example, all sponsors would be required to hold photocopies or electronic copies of passport and ID card details, recruitment practices would need to be submitted and the migrant must be qualified at the equivalent of S/NVQ Level Three or above.

The past system was by no means a border-free journey for creative artists, designers or other workers, but usually a letter from the company inviting you, outlining why you’ve been invited, what you’d be doing and how much your stipend will be was sufficient for the invitee to get permission to enter as an artist, as a writer, architect, designer or composer or other creative. Applying for a visa was by no means easy, but a number of different routes were available.

Now, all invited non-EU creatives will have to apply for a visa in person and supply biometric data – electronic finger scans and a digital photograph. Tier Two skilled workers will be required to hold a high qualification, have strong professional experience, the ability to speak fluent English (preferably studied in an English speaking country) and be in demand because of a shortage of local skills in the UK. Tier Five temporary workers will need to show that they readily have access to a minimum of £800 of their own money and that they have no recourse to public funds. Does this apply to artist-in-residence or international fellowship schemes funded by Arts Council England? There is no clarity.

Whether one believes in immigration controls or not (and I don’t) the arts and creative community seems to agree that the new system is restrictive. The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) undertook a quick survey of its members in July 2008 receiving 53 responses from its individual membership of 325. A 16 per cent response rate may not be quantifiably significant, but of those who responded, 76 per cent had hosted artists from outside the EU in the last two years, and 81 per cent said the changes to the immigration regulations would affect their work, citing increase costs, legal hurdles, and administrative tasks as extra burdens. However, only two per cent stated that they would work with fewer non-EU artists in the future.

What is evident is the lack of a popular campaign against these draconian measures that are curbing the freedom of international creative and artistic flow into the UK. The NCA alerted the Home Office to the detrimental effect on the arts sector, which it says the proposed changes posed in terms of costs and procedures, and took part in a sector- specific task force to inform the UKBA’s immigration policy. However, the NCA did not mobilise a protest from its 600-strong membership of individuals and organisations to object to these hugely restrictive measures.

Rather than encouraging collaboration with creative professionals overseas, the Design Council seems to be worried that UK design is being threatened by the growth economies of India, Russia, China, and Brazil. ‘What is impressive – and worrying – about the emerging economies is not where they stand today but how they are positioning themselves for the future’, Design Council chairman, George Cox has said.

It seems obvious that the new points-based system is designed to keep certain types of people out, while the UK is happy to export its expertise across the world, without the same level of humiliating procedures. Many small, unincorporated, autonomous creatives will have a tough job of getting the necessary documents to invite non-EU overseas colleagues and professional networks to the UK. Artists, designers, craftsmakers, and architects who want to collaborate, support each other and explore collective work will lose their flexibility and freedom to choose who they work with internationally. It also means that individuals will lose their autonomy unless they are regulated and validated by the likes of the British Council, Visiting Arts, The Design Council, and other official bodies of representation.

Manick Govindais head of the Artists’ Advisory Services and arts project manager at Artsadmin. He is a member of the London Mayor’s Cultural Strategy Group and is commissioning editor for a-n: The Artists Information Company