UK Visas and Immigration team has decided to answer all queries from Indians over visa fears

The announcement of new visa rules on student visa with an intention to sent back student immigrants after their studies had already raised the fears among the students.

Britain has chosen to answer questions specifically from potential students and visitors from India over new visa rules that are expected to come into effect from next year.

On Monday, UK home Secretary Theresa May announces to stop the immigrant students in colleges making a “backdoor entry to a British visa”.

With the declaration of new visa rules in UK, Indian students already recorded a 25% dip visiting its universities.

Aware of rising doubt around Britain’s visa regimen, the UK Visas and Immigration team has decided to answer all queries from Indians to allay their doubts.

UK has always maintained that India is one of its priority countries as far as issuing visas are concerned.

Over the past five years, on an average 70,000 business visas have been issued for every year to Indians.

Officials say the issue rate has been high with “almost all Indians who apply for a UK business visa get one.”

In 2012 for instance, 67,400 business visas were issued of the 69,600 applications received – an approval rate of 97%.

India remains the UK’s biggest visa operation in the world, processing around 400,000 applications each year.

The Home Office says the vast majority of applications – over 97% of UK business visit visas and 86% per cent of visit visas – are approved and UKBA processes 95% of applications within 15 working days.

British High Commissioner to India Sir James Bevan recently said over 300,000 Indians come to the UK each year.

Tourism is a major contributor to the UK economy (9% of UK GDP and employment) which in 2012 attracted just over 31 million visitors, our best year since 2008.

Sir James Bevan said “By 2020 we aim to attract 40 million visitors a year. Indian tourists are central to that ambition. As India’s prosperity grows and its middle class expands, more and more Indians are looking to travel abroad. When they get on that aircraft, we are very clear where we want them to come: to the UK. But we never forget that everyone has a choice. There are 193 countries in the world: all of them have something to recommend them.”

A new immigration policy announced recently intends to send back 7,000 overseas nurses by 2020. Under new rules, up to 3,365 nurses currently working in the UK may have to leave the country from 2017 as a direct result of the 2012 immigration changes.

If levels of recruitment stay the same, by 2020, 6,620 nurses will be impacted, majority of which will be from India according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Source : www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com