UK opens for business again, eases some immigration rules to attract Indians

After various stringent measures on immigration which have been very unpopular in India, the UK government has finally announced some changes last week which come as a breather. These will likely help the UK regain ground as an international higher education destination among Indian students by allowing them to take up corporate internships after completing their degree.

Further, the rules have also been eased for graduates to take up skilled jobs. Those on graduate entrepreneur visas will now be able to switch to a skilled workers’ visa more easily. They will be able to switch visas for a job with a ‘new entrant’ salary without the sponsor having to complete a resident labour market test (those who want to sponsor a migrant in the tier 2 general category for a skilled job that is not on the list of ‘shortage occupations’ need to do this test to prove that there is no suitable settled worker who can do it).

Students Upbeat

Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, reckons that the latest announcement will help talented students to stay back in the UK after their education. “The recent steps to allow them to take up corporate internships after their degree are being welcomed by both the academic community and business leaders in the UK,” he says. There are around 300 Indian students currently enrolled at Cambridge.


However, considering that an academic year has already started for undergraduate international students, the UK government’s earlier decision to discontinue the post-study work visa may have already done considerable damage.

“Some of these concessions may have come too late as students are seeking entry into other European countries. It will be a slow process to rebuild confidence of students in British immigration policies,” says Navnit Dholakia, deputy leader, Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. His party is a coalition partner in the UK government.

The concessions for international students are largely seen as a measure to once again make the UK an attractive option in the face of falling numbers and other countries emerging as better destinations. “The measures still fall short in making the UK an attractive option for graduates post their education. The new measures only allow those that have completed a degree as a tier 4 migrant to undertake corporate internships which directly relate to their degrees.

Post the internship, graduates won’t be eligible to switch to the tier 2 general category,” says Navinder Pal Singh Kalsi, immigration director of AD Themis & Co, a UK-based immigration law firm. He believes that nothing short of the reintroduction of the post-study visa category, with a focus on related employment to the subject of the qualifying degree, will attract larger numbers of international students.

Good for Business, too

The other changes, which are for business visitors, will allow employees of companies to undertake corporate training in the UK delivered by an external company or do a short course of study. Further, changes to the intracompany transfer (ICT) route will enable employees already on this visa to extend it without having to take a language test.

“We welcome the changes to the business visitor route allowing business visitors to undertake internal audits and corporate training from companies outside their employer’s group,” says Kamal Rahman, partner, immigration group of London firm Mishcon de Reya Solicitors. She also feels that the relaxation in the earlier rule restricting employee ownership to less than 10% of the sponsor’s business, which will no longer apply to employees who earn more than £152,000 a year, is a correct step and will help senior company employees who are offered share incentives as part of their salary package.

For Indian companies sending employees to the UK on ICT visas, the relaxation of the English test is a big relief. However, individuals on ICT visas continue to be deprived of settlement rights. “The deprivation of settlement rights to those on ICT visas for more than four years is unfair and leaves room for exploitation by employers,” says Amit Kapadia, executive director of HSMP Forum, an organisation that works for the rights of immigrants in the UK.