To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 3 December 2010 (WA 506), whether employers can bring in an unlimited number of non-European Economic Area workers for up to a year using intra-company transfer visas if their earnings are between £24,000 and £40,000 per annum; what is the effect on the economy of allowing such migrants to compete with unemployed workers in the United Kingdom; and why such temporary posts require filling.

We have exempted intra-company transfer visas from our annual limit in response to views expressed in our consultation. Salary thresholds are not the only condition attached to the intra-company transfer route. For example, transferees who are filling posts must have at least 12 months' previous experience with the company; the post must be on the list of graduate level occupations; and an intra-company transferee will not be able to return with 12 months of the expiry of his previous leave. This ensures that the route is used only to meet business needs for temporary posts that require established company knowledge and experience, not for posts that could be filled by a new recruit from the UK. It is for sponsoring employers to determine why such posts require filling.