The Financial Times reports that United Kingdom-based companies fear the points-based immigration system is negatively impacting their ability to compete. They complain that the rules have made it increasingly difficult to recruit, hire and train applicants and employees from outside Britain and that the system is flawed.

Problems have persisted since the system was introduced last year. Although designed to provide “British jobs for British workers,” the policy has frustrated companies in Britain. The requirement that businesses looking to fill high-level executive roles must post positions at local job centers, coupled with the inflexibility of visa examiners concerning application mistakes, has hampered recruitment efforts. Moreover, companies have found compliance difficult because the rules are constantly changing.

Government officials counter that 90% of applications from outside the UK are processed within three weeks. The Home Office is advising its visa case workers to be more flexible when examining applications. Most recently, the UK granted an exemption to candidates from colleges such as Harvard and Stanford, allowing them to participate in annual graduate recruitment drives until August.