New Delhi: Britain has ruled out any changes in its amended Highly Skilled Migrant Programme which might force up to 40,000 migrants from India here to pack up and go back.
Britain's Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said he would not backtrack on amendments to the programme, describing them as a "dry run" for the forthcoming points-based system.
In March, he promised the HSMP Forum, the Indian-led organisation representing HSMP visa-holders, to "review and reflect" on the changes in the new HSMP visa rules. "I make no apology for tightening the rules. What I said to the forum was quite clear — we will review the way the changes were introduced so we can learn the lessons for when we bring in the new points-based system," Byrne told Personnel Today magazine.
The HSMP forum claims that up to 40,000 migrants from India who entered under the previous programme could be forced out of the country because they have to re-apply for their visas after one year.
Employment success is crucial to gaining an extension. "I do not believe you can be a highly skilled migrant if you have been in the UK for a year without a job. This was a dry run for the points-based system, and we wanted to test some of the changes," Byrne said.
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