We'll keep a welcome in the hillside

Archived Material - May 2007 Alex Salmond was elected as First Minister

Scotland is a nation with a reputation for world-class education, an international outlook and a superb quality of life. For generations, the Scots have welcomed people from all parts of the world to live, work and study, to build prosperous futures and raise families amongst us and to add to the rich cosmopolitan mix of Scottish society.

To help make the process easier, a new service using all the latest technology has been set up. The Relocation Advisory Service (RAS) was launched in January 2005 by the First Minister, Jack McConnell during a visit to Glasgow's College of Building and Printing. RAS is an integral part of the Fresh Talent Initiative which aims to attract individuals to move to Scotland. The initiative is driven by the long-term demographic projections for Scotland.

RAS aims to offer practical support and advice on a wide range of issues to people interested in spending part of their working life in Scotland. It offers a face-to-face, phone and web-based service to people wishing to live and work in Scotland and offers advice on a wide range of issues including immigration, employment, education, accommodation and leisure and cultural opportunities. The RAS team includes two secondees, one from the Home Office and one from the Immigration Advisory Service UK.

RAS understands that leaving home to live in another country, even one as welcoming as Scotland, can be difficult. RAS will help potential newcomers prepare properly for a move and help ensure people know what to expect on arrival. And once arrived, RAS will still be on hand with any advice needed to help people settle in. Since its launch, RAS has registered almost 3,000 customers from 111 different countries . . . and more are coming in daily. The countries showing the greatest interest, so far, are India, the United States, Poland and Nigeria. And questions range from how to find a job to how to open a bank account, taking in, along the way, ownership of forests, living on the remoter islands and how to bring a pet to Scotland.

The Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme (FTWSS).

This scheme should be available from summer 2005 and is specifically for students graduating from Scottish educational institutions with HNDs or degrees (not diplomas or certificates). So overseas students from countries outside the European Economic Area who have graduated with a first degree, Masters, PhD or HND from a Scottish university or college and have lived in Scotland while studying, will be able to apply to stay on in Scotland for two years to seek and take employment. Information on this scheme is now available online at Working in the UK.

The next Challenge

A 'Challenge Fund' is planned and will be open to all Scottish higher and further education institutions. It will aim to ensure that overseas students enjoy a welcoming and supportive environment during their studies, and encourage them to consider staying in Scotland after completing their studies.

So why Scotland?

The First Minister recently said: "Scotland has a great quality of life, a fantastic environment, a first-class education system and a growing economy. I believe that we can attract people from the rest of the UK, from Europe and from further afield to come and make a contribution to our increasingly successful country."

There are many reasons why people choose to come and live in Scotland:

Education

Scotland has a long tradition of respect for education. A high proportion of young people in Scotland go into further and higher education after leaving school and many of the country's universities are internationally acclaimed for world leading research across a wide range of subjects. At the moment electronics and the life sciences are particularly 'hot'. Six Scottish universities hold five-star ratings for the quality of their research, denoting that the work carried out there is internationally significant. Our educational institutions attract a high proportion of students from overseas. Around one in ten of the students in Higher Education in Scotland come from outside the UK. Entry qualifications are set by the individual universities and colleges, and most adopt a flexible approach to assessing applicants from abroad.

One of our recent features shows how Scottish universities and colleges are becoming ever more popular among overseas students.

Work

Scotland has relatively low unemployment, with industries such as engineering, electronics, biotechnology, oil and gas production and processing making a major contribution to the nation's wealth. There is also a strong service sector, particularly in finance. Scotland is one of the major world centres for banking, investment and insurance. Tourism and food and drink production have always been important to the Scottish economy. In recent years, Scottish companies have also won international acclaim for their contribution to the digital entertainments industry, especially in the design and creation of leading-edge computer games.

Business

Scotland welcomes men and women with an enterprising outlook, whether they set out to run a sandwich shop or to become a major industrial employer. And many of the country's best-known businesses were started by people who came to settle here and built prosperity through their own dedication and community support. New businesses in Scotland can draw on a well-educated and highly-skilled workforce, and there is an excellent IT infrastructure with high broadband availability and good transport links with Europe and the rest of the world. A wide range of advice and support is available to businesses starting up in or relocating to Scotland.

Lifestyle

From the cosmopolitan excitement of our cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh to the rural calm of traditional villages and the beautiful natural surroundings of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland offers an endless variety of lifestyles and environments to choose from. The country has a comparatively low cost of living, and Scottish cities are regularly praised by visitors for the quality of life they offer. The Scots have a tradition of celebrating diversity, and the festivals of many different faiths are marked by both communities and schools. There is easy access to places of worship and specialist food shops covering the needs of all the world's major religions.

Interested?

For more about moving to Scotland, contacts for the Relocation Advisory Service are:

info@scotlandistheplace.com or by visiting the website at: www.scotlandistheplace.com

or by phone on: +44 141 248 2808 (if you are calling from outside the UK) or 0845 602 0297 (if calling from within the UK)

or by writing to:
Relocation Advisory Service
Third Floor
Scottish Executive, Meridian Court
5 Cadogan Street
Glasgow
G2 6AT