UK snubs Indian students but boosts techies |
Indian techies, engineers and teachers are among foreign professionals who stand to gain from changes announced by the UK home office on Friday and tabled by the Theresa May government in parliament. The changes in the tier-2 visa category could open up thousands of slots for other professionals now that doctors and nurses have been exempted from the controversial annual cap of 20,700 visas. This would also mean that an unrestricted number of non-EU doctors and nurses can enter the UK to plug the acute shortage of skilled professionals plaguing the country`s National Health Service (NHS), which accounts for around 40 per cent of all tier-2 slots. Before December 2017, the ceiling of 20,700, which was set on the advice of the Migration Advisory Committee, had only been hit once. However, it has been reached every month since last December. Approximately 1,000 tech workers with job offers were refused visas between December 2017 and March 2018. The Indian industry welcomed the move. "Coming in the wake of a long-standing demand from Indian professionals, the news is a welcome development," said Rashesh Shah, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
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