Little-known changes in the rules governing work visas will ease the way for more migrants to come to the UK and will make a full free trade deal with India more likely.
In what one expert calls ‘clever smoke-and-mirrors’, the UK government has talked tough on immigration, while simultaneously making it easier for foreign nationals to gain access to the UK labour market. The result is a new favourable immigration environment that will please Indian politicians, who have made liberalisation of UK visa rules for Indian workers a prerequisite for any free trade deal.
The relaxations include a two-year work extension visa for foreign students and the abolishing of rules that dictate jobs have to be given to UK workers before migrants.
This week the Department of International Trade announced the signing of an Enhanced Trade Partnership between International Business Secretary Liz Truss and India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. Visa restrictions have historically been a sticking point to trade deals between India and the UK and EU.
Visa expert, Yash Dubal, believes the UK’s new points-based immigration regime will now make it much easier for the ETP to develop into a full free trade deal because Indian workers will find it easier to migrate to the UK.
He revealed that the visa consultancy he runs, A Y & J Solicitors, has been inundated with interest from Indian nationals since the start of the year. He predicts an influx of migrants from Asia.
He said: “There has been a marked increase in inquiries from Indian citizens who want visas to work in the UK and this is all driven by specific relaxations in UK immigration rules. When you analyse the details of the new system it is apparent that certain measures have been put in place to encourage more people to come here, rather than to deter them – which is the message the government would rather people believe.
“The resident labour market test has been abolished, there has a been a reduction in the skills threshold applied to visa applicants and the two-year post-study visa that allows foreign students to stay in the UK after their studies conclude has been reinstated.
“The UK Government has been rather clever because those who want less immigration have had their attention diverted with talk of tough new rules, when the reality is that there is a much more liberal regime that favours foreign workers. It is clever smoke and mirrors.
“In addition, after the pandemic when the economy opens up, businesses will face a massive shortage of skilled staff, and will be looking for foreign labour.”
The Government hopes the ETP will pave the way to a full free trade deal, something the British government has been keen to secure since the vote to leave the EU in 2016. Free trade with India – with its 1.37 billion population, fast-growing economy and relatively high tariff walls – would be a major prize for Britain.
However, Britain’s reluctance to grant preferential treatment to Indian workers to travel and work here has been a historic stumbling block. The issue proved problematic as far back as 2007 when the EU was negotiating a deal with India. Ironically, it was the UK, then an EU member state, which objected and put a brake on the negotiations.
The visa issue surfaced again when Theresa May visited India in 2016 and in 2018 when Indian officials reiterated the demand for easier migration routes to Britain as part of a post-Brexit free trade deal.
Successive reports have also advised that the immigration issue will be key to a successful deal.
A 2018 Confederation of British Industry report advised that easing visa rules for India will be key to forging a trade deal with the country. It recommended reviving the popular post-study work visa for Indian students is one way forward. And in 2019 a Commons foreign affairs select committee report described the UK’s neglected ties with India as an “expensive missed opportunity”, noting Britain had slipped from being its second largest trade partner in 1998-99 to 17th in 2018-19. The committee’s report stated: “While the Global Britain strategy is barely being communicated in India, the ‘hostile environment’ message is being heard loud and clear.”
Mr Dubal predicts this caution will now change.
“In my opinion, the issue of visas will be much less of an obstacle now because of the new Immigration Bill,” he said.