UK visitor visa requirements must balance border security risks with trade, tourism and diplomatic opportunities. Policymakers face the challenge of balancing these risks and opportunities under uncertainty. This project will address that challenge by developing an agent-based model as a “policy sandbox” to test visa scenarios before Home Office decisions are made. Co-designed with government officials in the Department for Business and Trade and calibrated to public data, the model will trace how visa frictions affect people flows, consumption and trade. The project will support better-balanced decisions, define monitorable indicators, strengthen modelling capability in government, and deepen collaboration between academia and policymakers.
This project is funded by a grant from the OPEN Seed Fund.
