According to a media report released on Saturday, the UK intends to relax immigration laws in order to clinch a trade agreement with India by offering cheaper and easier visas to Indian tourists, students, and professionals.
The UK’s foreign trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, is scheduled to head to New Delhi later this month to begin formal negotiations on a potential free trade agreement between India and the UK (FTA).
According to the source, she has the support of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who has prioritized building ties with India, for the UK to offset China’s growing influence. However, Home Secretary Priti Patel is opposed to the notion.
In May of last year, Patel and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar signed a “bespoke” and reciprocal Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) that will allow around 3,000 students and professionals to gain work experience benefits in either country each year.
Both sides have agreed to work toward an April 2022 target for establishing the new system as part of the MMP, with work at the High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi having already begun.
One option being investigated as part of new immigration policy in the works is a program similar to the one consented to as part of the UK’s FTA with Australia, which would encourage young Indians to come to the UK and work for up to 3 years.
According to the report, another option would be to cut student visa costs, allowing them to stay in the UK after graduation for a length of time, maybe building on the Graduate Route visa under current points-based immigration regulations.
Fee reductions for employment and tourism visas are also possible.
A work visa costs up to GBP 1,400 for an Indian citizen, GBP 348 for students, and GBP 95 for visitors.
These costs contrast drastically with visa fees for countries such as China, which are significantly lower.
The head of the Confederation of British Industry, Lord Karan Bilimoria, is an Indian-origin peer who has been a major advocate for lowering immigration fees for Indians.
According to a senior government source, ministers have agreed that the price of a trade deal with India will be a “generous” payment. Visas are available.
India’s tech and digital sectors are still heavily guarded, and even a fragment of access would put us ahead of the game, as per a government official.
And according to Department for International Trade, “preparations for the start of discussions for the UK-India FTA” have been ongoing since the conclusion of bilateral working groups.
Last October, at the G-20 trade ministers meeting in Sorrento, Italy, Trevelyan and her Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, met to discuss “final preparations” for the launch of India-UK FTA negotiations this year.
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