U.K. WORK VISAS FOR INDIANS

• Indian nationals received the largest number — 39% — of the total work-related visas granted by the United Kingdom for the year ending September 2022, an announcement from the British government has said. Of the total 1,45,258 work-related visas issued by the U.K., Indians received 56,042, a jump of 90% in comparison to the pre-pandemic figure of 29,552 in 2019.
• Apart from India, the Philippines, Nigeria, and the United States were among the other top visa-seeking nations seeking work visas.
• The sharp rise in the demand for the work visas is being explained by the post-pandemic recovery, which has settled in most of the major economies across the world.
• Indians also featured in the top three nationalities that were granted ‘Skilled Worker’ visas from the U.K. The other two nations that received similar visas were the United States and South Africa.

• Indians received 33% of the ‘Skilled Worker’ visas, while American nationals received 6% and South African nationals received 4%. Indians came on top for the ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas and accounted for 36% of the total visas granted under the category. Nigerians and Zimbabwean nationals were also among the top recipients of this category of visas.
• During the same period, the U.K. granted 1,27,731 student visas to Indian nationals, marking an increase of 93,470 from the 34,261 visas granted in 2019. The issue of pending visa applications has affected the flow of people from India to the U.K. in the recent past. The situation is expected to improve soon.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB