Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London has has written to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to urge him to include India in a scheme offering simpler applications for UK student visas.
Last month, the Home Secretary announced that citizens of a further 11 countries – including China and Mexico – would be able to access a streamlined process to apply for Tier 4 student visas. While the Mayor welcomes the expansion of the scheme, he remains “deeply concerned” that India is not included. This decision was apparently taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the illegal immigrants in the UK. Sources revealed that the dispute is over numbers.
International students and academic talent, including those from India, play a significant role in driving innovation, investment and the UK’s global competitiveness, while Indian businesses invest more in the UK than they do in the rest of Europe combined.
However, the number of Indian students coming to the UK is falling – from a peak of nearly 24,000 a year in 2010/11 to a low of barely 9,000 a year in 2015/16.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told Asian Voice: “During my trade mission to India last year, I was told regularly by politicians and business leaders that the UK’s approach to immigration was the single biggest barrier to strengthening our economic ties.
“This is not simply a concern in boardrooms: it is widely discussed in the media and the UK is characterised as hostile to Indian nationals in general, and students in particular.
“As such, I have today written to the Home Secretary to voice my deep concern that India has been excluded from a list of countries whose citizens can more easily access student visas.
“It is vital the UK maintains its reputation for higher education excellence. The number of Indian students choosing to study in the UK has declined significantly over the last decade.
“I’m urging him to both add India to the scheme and also to review the UK's broader approach to attracting international student talent, including post-study opportunities.
“With the continuing uncertainty we face around Brexit, government should be doing everything it can to safeguard businesses’ future access to talent.”
Tier 4 visas are general student visas to study in the UK for those aged 16 and over. Countries already on the student visa trusted list: Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Taiwan. The countries recently added to the modified and linient list are China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Bahrain, Serbia, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Maldives, Macau.
Between 2005 and 2016, the UK was the second largest destination for Indian investment and 44 per cent of the fastest growing Indian companies now have a base in London. Indian companies invest more in the UK than they do in the rest of Europe combined – and employ around 110,000 people in the UK, with six of the largest Indian employers based in London.
The UK currently has eight universities ranked inside the world top 40 – four of which are in London.
A Home Office spokesperson in response said, "India did not meet the required criteria for inclusion on Appendix H. However, Indian students will experience no change in the service that they receive when applying for a student visa. There is no limit on the number of genuine Indian students who can come to study in the UK, and the fact that last year saw a 30% increase in Tier 4 visas issued to Indian students is proof that the current system allows for strong growth in this area.
"We are committed to a close relationship with India. This is clearly seen by the fact that Indian nationals make-up around two-thirds of all Tier 2 visas issued by the UK and we issue more skilled worker visas to Indian nationals than to all other nationalities combined. India also has the most UK Visa Application Centres of any country in the world and we are determined to continue our work to bring the UK and India closer together.”
