There have been a lot of speculations in the country due to the recent changes in United Kingdom’s Visa Policies for non-EU nationals. According to the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) report, the findings state that the Indian IT professionals accounted for 90% of the visa applications.
In an effort to curtail ascending immigration stats, it is believed that changes in the UK Visa Policies under Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) category have been implemented to reduce the reliance on foreign workers.
Following this, the first two phases of changes Tier 2 policies post the review done by the Independent Migration Advisory Committee will be seen affecting the applications requested on or after November 24, 2016 under the same category.
One of the findings by MAC also indicates that Indian IT companies in Britain make use of ICT category to a large extent due to which the employers have a ready access to skilled Indian IT professionals via immigration. As a result, this is hindering the employers who remain unable to train and groom the UK manpower.
It has also been observed by MAC that the way employment in UK has been beneficial to Indian workforce, there has been no concrete proof of amenities and possibilities reciprocated in India wherein the UK staff could hone their skills and gain experience while working in India.
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Major Changes To UK Visa Policy Under Tier 2 ICT Category:
- Non-EU nationals will be obliged to meet a higher salary threshold requirement. The earlier limit of 20,800 pounds (USD 25,723) has been increased to 30,000 pounds (USD 37,131).
- There has been an increase in the salary threshold for experienced non-EU nationals too. The limit has been elevated to 25,000 pounds (USD 30,930) with some exemptions under Tier 2 (General).
- Graduate trainees under the Tier 2 (ICT) will find it difficult as the salary threshold is cut down to 23,000 pounds (USD 28,467).
Other Changes Include:
- Number of places has been increased to 20 per company per year.
- The sub category of skills transfer has been closed under the Tier 2 (ICT) category.
- Applicants will have to meet the new requisite of English language while applying for settlement as a family member post 2.5 years in the UK on a 5-year route to residency settlement in the UK.
- Those partners and parents whose visa to remain in the UK under the family immigration rules is expiring on or after May 1, 2017, will also have to oblige to the new language requirement.
The current phase of changes to the UK visa policies surpassed the presence of the British Prime Minister, Theresa May who was present in the country on her three-day visit to attend the UK-India Tech Summit in New Delhi.
On account of the recent changes, Theresa May also stated that “The UK will consider further improvements to our visa offer if, at the same time, we can step-up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain.”
With an indication to further improvements to the Tier 2 visa policies, businesses in UK will continue to recruit skilled non-EU professionals provided the training and recruiting scenario of UK manpower progresses predominantly.
Tell us what you feel about these recent changes in the UK Visa Policy. Share your opinion in the comments below and make yourself heard!
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