UK cautioned against ‘unfair’ visa crackdown on Indian students
UK cautioned against ‘unfair’ visa crackdown on Indian students
London: Groups representing skilled professionals and students from India on Tuesday expressed concerns over a lack of clarity around the UK government’s latest visa crackdown, branding the ban on family dependents as “unfair”.
UK Home Secretary James Cleverly tabled a five-point plan in Parliament on Monday that would see overseas care workers banned from bringing family members and skilled professionals having to meet a much higher minimum salary threshold of GBP 38,700.
While the Health and Care visa will be exempt from this hiked salary requirement, it remains unclear how the category would operate for Indian medics in future.
“We will be writing to the Home Secretary urgently to seek clarification; we hope that this does not include doctors and nurses because if it does, we can assure the Home Office that the number of doctors and nurses coming to UK from India will be nil,” said Dr Ramesh Mehta, founder of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) – the UK’s largest representative body for nearly 80,000 doctors and 55,000 nurses of Indian origin.
“But even if the changes apply only to care workers, it is extremely unfair if they are not allowed to bring their family. For anyone to provide a satisfactory and good quality care service, they can’t be separated from their own family,” he said.
BAPIO, which works proactively with the National Health Service (NHS) to help address the state-funded system’s “desperate need” for quality doctors and nurses from India, warned that it would be forced to withdraw the voluntary support if the new rules clamp down on family rights.
There is also an element of doubt if the Home Office intends to revoke an exemption for professionals under the Health and Care visa from paying the compulsory Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which Cleverly confirmed would be increasing from the current GBP 624 to GBP 1,035.
“We’ve just announced the biggest ever cut in net migration. No Prime Minister has done this before in history. But the level of net migration is too high and it has to change. I am determined to do it,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with reference to the latest set of visa changes which the government claims could cut migrant numbers by 300,000.
Under the Skilled Worker visa route, dominated by Indian professionals over the years, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) cautioned that the hike in the minimum salary threshold from GBP 26,200 to GBP 38,700 could have “unintended consequences” for the UK economy.
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