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Immigration Policy Booting Missionaries from UK

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One of the world's largest missions agencies is losing dozens of staff members in the United Kingdom due to changing visa requirements.

Christianity Today reports that the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration agency stripped Operation Mobilization's license to sponsor visas, forcing 66 of the organization's staff and volunteers to leave the United Kingdom within two months.

Following an inspection by the UKVI earlier this year in which OM failed to comply with new visa sponsor standards, OM can no longer bring missionaries from outside the European Union to staff its U.K. office.

That means all of OM's non-European employees and volunteers who had visas sponsored by the organization must leave the country.

The United Kingdom has been increasing visa sponsoring requirements in the past few years.

"We have seen the expectations and requirements on visa sponsors increase dramatically in recent years, and unfortunately, along with many similar organizations, we have been unable to keep up with those requirements quickly enough in a way that immediately satisfies the UKVI," Gary Sloan, OM's U.K. director, told CT in a statement.

Part of the increased requirements are due to changes in the U.K.'s immigration system aimed at regulating the labor force. Those changes have confused Christian ministries about how to properly designate their employees.

Last year, the Christian organization Youth With a Mission, faced removing 300 of its missionaries and their families from the United Kingdom for similar reasons.

An audit of the YWAM United Kingdom office by the UKVI found the organization was not up to par in two of seven areas. That audit nearly cost YWAM its visa sponsorship capacity.

Once the organization updated their records with the U.K. government, they were able to keep its sponsorship status.

Sloan says OM respects the UKVI's decision as final, and that OM's "focus will continue to realign our protocols and internal procedures to ensure they are in full compliance with current legislation when we look to reapply for our license in 12 months time."

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