India has the world’s biggest diaspora, with most people living abroad out of any country in the world, as of 2020, according to the United Nations World Migration Report 2022. The Indian foreign ministry said a record number of Indians surrendered their passports last year, with most settling in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. But this might change soon.
Recently, Australia, Canada, and the UK have introduced visa restrictions which might impact tens of thousands of Indian students and workers who leave the country every year in search of better education and employment opportunities.
According to the Indian government data, the largest number of Indians who gave Indian citizenship in 2021 settled in the United States (78,284), Australia (23,533), Canada (21,597), and the UK (14,637).
Australia
On Monday (Dec 11), the Australian government in a bid to “fix the broken immigration system” said that it is restricting the intake of international students and low-skilled workers by tightening the visa rules. The decision comes after net immigration was expected to have peaked at a record 510,000 in 2022-23, reported Reuters.
Ahead of the formal release of the government’s strategy, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, said that the move is expected to halve its migrant intake over the next two years. “We’ve worked around the clock to strike the best balance in Australia’s migration system,” said the Australian minister.
In line with the new rules, Canberra will require international students to achieve higher scores on English proficiency tests. The students applying for a graduate visa will require a score of 6.5 up from 6.0, while student visa applicants will need a 6.0 up from 5.5.
However, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green, according to the Mint said, “Commitments agreed between India and Australia under the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) will be upheld under the new Migration Strategy.”
Indian graduates will be eligible to stay on a Temporary Graduate Visa for two years for a Bachelor’s degree, three years for the completion of a Masters’ degree, and four years for finishing a PhD.
The Australian government said it would set up a new specialist visa for highly skilled workers which would cut the processing time to one week, in a bid to help businesses recruit top migrants amid tough competition with other developed economies.
Australia, which has become one of the tightest labour markets in the world, has been long reliant on immigration.
The government believes the new pathway, which will be open to eligible applicants earning at least $135,000 in any occupation aside from trade workers, machinery operators and drivers, and labourers, will add $3.4 billion to the country’s budget over the next decade.
Canada
Earlier this month, the Canadian government’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that starting January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised to more than double.
International students will need to show they have access to US$15,219 (CAN$20,635) instead of the previous US$7,376 (CAN$10,000) which had been in place for around 20 years, in addition to paying for travel and tuition.
The hike also comes as many international students are unable to keep up with the rise in the cost of living which has spiked over the past couple of years. In addition to this announcement, IRCC Minister Marc Miller, on Thursday (Dec 7) also said that the measure which offers extended off-campus work hours will be extended till the end of April.
The government had previously sought to limit the number of hours that international students can work while studying in Canada.
“The waiver on the 20-hour-per-week limit on the number of hours international students are allowed to work off campus while class is in session will be extended to April 30, 2024,” said Miller.
The IRCC might set the limit to 30 hours per week, moving forward, said Miller, while also ruling out the possibility of full-time work for international students while they are studying.
International education contributes more than $22 billion in economic activity every year and supports more than 200,000 jobs in Canada, according to the government.
However, Indian students might have to deal with long delays for visa applications. This comes after Ottawa removed its 41 diplomats from New Delhi amid the ongoing diplomatic row following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unfounded accusations of India’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
United Kingdom
The British government, earlier this month announced tough new immigration rules as the country continues to grapple with the high number of people moving to the UK. The package of measures has sought to reduce immigration each year by hundreds of thousands.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he was taking “robust action” to lower authorised immigration which hit a record high in 2022. “This package of measures will take place from next spring,” said Cleverly, on Monday (Dec 4).
The UK government plans to raise the minimum salary required for foreign workers to be eligible for a work visa by a third and make it more difficult for them to bring their families.
The minimum salary threshold for foreign skilled workers will be raised to $48,800 from $33,000. Meanwhile, British citizens who want to bring their foreign spouse to the UK will now have to earn the same amount, which is double the current threshold.
While health and social care, which are highly reliant on immigrant staff, are exempt from the salary rule, care workers from overseas will no longer be able to bring dependent relatives with them. The restriction has raised concerns in the industry that fewer will want to come to the UK.
“Migrant workers were encouraged to come here because both sectors are critically short of staff. Hospitals and care homes simply couldn’t function without them,” said Christina McAnea, general secretary of the Unison trade union.
She also called the measures a “total disaster” for health and the care sector. “Migrants will now head to more welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families,” said McAnea.
Similarly, starting in January, most foreign graduate students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. The measures have irked Indian students and business associations, who contribute a significant amount to the British economy.
A report by London Economics, citing data from 2020-21, said international students put nearly 10 times more into the British economy than they take with Indians representing the second largest cohort of international students coming to study in the UK.
The measures were announced amid mounting pressure on UK PM Rishi Sunak to act amid record net migration last year. The issue has dominated Britain’s political landscape for more than a decade and the incumbent PM has promised to crack down on irregular migration after tens of thousands of people arrived on small boats across the English Channel.
(With inputs from agencies)
