New Visa Rules for Indians

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UK visa rules hurt Indian IT professionals

New UK HSMP rules

UK immigration

For those who plan to immigrate to Britain, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has given a detailed explanation to help better understand the implications of the British government's interim limit on non-EU immigration from July 19. The agency said in a release that until the interim limit is implemented on July 19, 2010,  applications will continue to be assessed as normal.

The Investor, Entrepreneur and Post-study work categories of Tier 1 will not be included in the interim limit and in-country extensions under Tier 1 (General) will also be excluded.

About the interim cap, the UKBA said: "From 19 July 2010, we will introduce a limit on the number of applications to Tier 1 (General) that we will consider in any one month. We will also increase the pass mark for Tier 1 (General), from 95 points to 100 points. Applications will be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Those who are already in the UK under Tier I (general) will be excluded from the limit and they can even apply for an extension. Same is the case with those already in the UK under any other immigration category and want to switch to Tier I (General)."

The UKBA release said that under the interim cap, the number of points required for a Tier I (general) has been revised.

"If you are in the UK in one of the following categories - Tier I (General), HSMP, Writers, composers and artists, self-employed lawyers and are applying to extend your stay in Tier 1 (General), you will need to score 95 points. If you are in the UK in any other category, for example Tier 1 (Post-study work), then you will need to score 100 points when you apply to switch into Tier 1 (General). If you are applying from outside the UK, you will need to score 100 points."

While applications will be accepted during the interim limit period, they will not be processed once the monthly limit has been reached. Applications will be held in a queue, in strict order of their date of application. Applications in the queue will be processed when the following month's limit is opened.

For the Tier II (General) category, the 'Intra-company transfer', 'Sportsperson' and 'Minister of religion' categories of Tier 2 will not be included in the interim limit.

From July 19, a limit on the number of certificates of sponsorship that each sponsor can assign to migrant workers under Tier 2 (General) is being introduced. A migrant  who has a valid certificate of sponsorship will be considered inside the limit and the application will be assessed as normal.

In a move that will hit Indian and Chinese nationals, the British government Tuesday said it would cut the number of student visas for non-Europeans by up to 80,000 a year, saying the regime was being abused as an easy route to migration. It also announced steps to drastically cut the number of dependents students will be allowed to bring, while cracking down on bogus colleges and limiting the opportunities for students to stay on and work. Only those graduates with offer of a skilled job from a sponsoring employer will be allowed to stay.

There are some 34,000 Indian pursuing higher studies in the UK, according to Indian estimates. British estimates, which take sub-graduate studies into account, are over the 50,000 mark, the highest after Chinese.

The steps come in spite of concerns conveyed by New Delhi. Home secretary Theresa May told HT that the Indian government was as keen as the British to ensure the quality of education on offer. “They want students to be able to come to the UK but they also want it to be fair to students — they want them to be able to study in genuine courses.”

The measures are part of the government’s resolve to bring down the overall non-EU immigrants from around 200,000 last year to “tens of thousands” by 2015. Universities have opposed the steps, which they fear will bring down the £40 billion (R 30 trillion)-a-year income that foreign students bring.

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