M A I N   N E W S

Special to The Tribune
EU’s visa policy may help Indian pros in UK
Shyam Bhatia in London

British and European Union policies are headed for a clash over how many Indian professionals should be allowed across the borders. Most Indian professionals, including students, who head for Europe tend to focus on the UK because of the shared history and language.

But the UK government — after a comparatively relaxed attitude towards such Indian visitors in the past few years — has now toughened entry procedures.

Among those hardest hit are students and highly qualified university teachers who are now required to fill in cumbersome visa forms before their application can be considered. A points system is now in place and those who do not have enough points are denied permission to enter.

Typical of the recent rejectees is materials scientist Dr Prashant Jain from Florida state university who scored only 45 points out of the 75 points needed to qualify for a UK work visa that would allow him to take up a fellowship at Cambridge University.

Much to the fury of the Cambridge authorities who had offered him the Fellowship, the UK Border Agency refused point-blank to show any flexibility that would result in the visa he needed.

Keeping experts like Dr Jain out of the country means the British government is keeping to its pledge of granting only 24,100 work visas to non-EU nationals until next April.

One Cambridge professor, who did not wish to be named, told The Tribune, “In the past, one of us would write to the authorities and they would relax entry requirements on our say. Now, the whole business of issuing visas has been subcontracted to a private company and they don’t listen to anyone.”

Help, however, may be now forthcoming from the European Commission (EC), which wants greater access to the Indian market for European companies in exchange for permitting more skilled Indians to work in Europe. Last year, EU goods exported to India were worth 27.5 billion Euros while imports were valued at 25.4 billion Euros.

The British government, despite its political commitment to reducing work visas, would have to abide by any new deal agreed between the EC and Delhi. Among those who would be sidelined is prominent Conservative MP Philip Davies, who was recently quoted as saying, “I am not a big fan of the EU doing deals on our behalf. My personal view is that the immigration cap is non-negotiable.”

His fellow Conservative MP Damien Green, who is also the minister in charge of immigration, has, however, hinted at future flexibility. In a letter published this week in the London Times, Green repeated his government’s commitment to bringing “net migration to the levels of the 1990s — the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands”. But he added, “There will still be room for the brightest and the best — such as top scientists, entrepreneurs and workers with key skills — but we will no longer import foreign workers for jobs that can be done by a domestic labour force that employs 2.5 million unemployed.”