London Mayor Sadiq Khan in an Award in London has said that he will continue to lobby for the Indian students and termed the exclusion of Indians from an easier student visa application regime as “offensive” and a “wasted opportunity”, the PTI has reported.
His comments have come in the wake of brewing tensions in India-UK relationship after the UK Home Office launched a more relaxed Tier 4 student visa system, adding countries like China, Serbia and the Maldives. India has been left out on that list believed to be because of the non-signing of an MoU regarding illegal immigrants by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his April visit to U.K.
Dismissing the UK government’s claims over these illegal immigrants from India, Khan reportedly said the evidence did not back up the concerns. “To link the two, illegal immigration and students is deeply offensive and also muddies the waters. This hostile environment (to immigration) is still here and we need real concrete evidence that it will change.
“There isn’t a problem about students overstaying… All the evidence shows that Indians who study here leave with a very positive attitude. So, when they become chief executives or investors, they invest in the UK,” he said.
According to the report he also challenged the Theresa May-led Conservative party government’s “blind spot”, which fails to take into account the benefits of immigration to Britain. “I feel this government is being very complacent about Indian investment. They assume it will always be here. My message to the government is no; these talented people can go elsewhere,” he warned, the agency reported.
Khan further said that he would lobby not just for tourists and students but also for Bollywood because film producers are now going to other parts of Europe as filming in London becomes far more difficult because of visa restrictions and the high cost of visitor visas. “The reality is there is so much talent in India, there is so much potential. Why aren’t we rushing to try and get that talent to come here rather than letting them go to Canada, Australia, the US and New Zealand?” questioned Khan.
His intervention came as the UK government seemed to indicate a softening of its stance over the issue of visas. UK Foreign Office Minister Mark Field who was also present at the awards, that the government was determined to make the changes necessary and it was just a matter of time before these become visible.
MPs question Home Office visa fee
MPs and campaigners have called for urgent action to reduce Home Office fees as the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration launches an inquiry into the charges.
David Bolt issued a call for evidence as he started work on an inspection of the Home Office’s charging for asylum, immigration, nationality and customs services. Bolt said it would look at the rationale for the fees, including the amounts charged.
The Guardian spoke around with families who had to choose between paying for accommodation or Home Office fees. Another family, who have a disabled daughter, are still paying back the £7,000 they borrowed to pay the charges and said they fear losing their home.
The Home Office has allegedly made profits of upto 800% on some immigration applications from families. Figures released to the BBC showed the Home Office made £800mn revenue from fees in six years.
MPs to debate petition about family visitors visa
MPs will debate three petitions about family visitor visas on Monday 9 July. The Committee has scheduled this debate because there were no new petitions which had reached the 100,000 signatures required to be considered for debate. These petitions have a combined total of more than 89,000 signatures and are about an issue that affects a relatively small group of people in the UK, which would make it harder for a single petition to pass the 100,000 signature threshold.
The petition claims, family members of UK Citizens shouldn’t have to meet the same criteria as other applicants for a visit visa. Not being a citizen doesn’t make our parent, siblings, children or grandchildren any less a part of our family. The only requirement should be that a British relative sponsors them.
