UK to ease its visa rules: Aims to attract more IT professionals, doctors ‘post-Brexit’

London, June 16: The UK government has tabled changes to its immigration policy in Parliament. The amendments include a review of its strict visa quotas available to professionals from countries like India. This easing visa rule is to address a shortage of doctors and also encourage tech entrepreneurs as it prepares a new post-EU immigration system, an issue that drove the Brexit vote.

 

As part of the immigration changes, the government said it would ask the independent Migration Advisory Committee to review the composition of the Shortage Occupation List. This is likely to further ease up the visa regime for businesses to be able to bring in professionals from countries like India to work in the UK. The Indian IT sector is among those expected to benefit from the easing up of the cap, a move welcomed by Indian industry.

PM Theresa May introduce the cap in 2010 when she was the interior minister but has faced growing demands from the healthcare sector to review it due to a shortage of staff that has left hundreds of NHS posts unfilled.

She wants migration controlled but says Britain should also attract the "best and the brightest" from around the world.

To that effect, on Wednesday the government announced a new "start-up" visa for technology entrepreneurs, which will replace a visa route that was previously only open to graduates.