[sciboy]

Is there any data that supports this blog posts contention that the best developers are in the UK on tier 1 visa's? If this were true, surely a large portion of the successful uk startups should be founded by tier-1 recipients?

[muriithi]

His "data" is purely anecdotal since his sample is limited to those developers he has worked with. However it is possible that you can have many good immigrant developers and a disproportionately lower number who go ahead and found startups.

Not every developer wants to be a startup founder.

[hugothefrog]

I'm a developer working in London - I've been here for the last five years. Immigrants seem disproportionately represented in the software dev industry (but not IT in general).

Quite a few from the EU, but a lot from Commonwealth countries (NZ, Aus, SA).

I've always found the mix very strange.

[anarchitect]

I think both tier 2 and 2 require sponsorship by an employer which would preclude setting up a new business.

I'm going through a tier 2 application at the moment and it is hell under the new UK government.

[iloveponies]

Application for Tier 1 visas require higher education - masters are preferred, BA is a minimum. Tier 2 doesn't require this, only proof of industry experience.