International - India & World   

Relief for Indian migrants in U.K.

London: Britain has decided to allow such professionals to stay here as it works to implement a high court ruling against immigration rule changes with retrospective effect.

The Home Office will not appeal against the April 8 verdict, which said it was “not open to the government to alter the terms and conditions” of the Highly Skilled MigrantsProgramme (HSMP) under which thousands of employees, mostly Indians, came to Britain. All highly-skilled migrants who came here under the HSMP as on November 7, 2006, when the regulation changes were made, can stay until processes are put in place to implement the judgment, the Home Office said.

Some 49,000 highly-skilled people had come to U.K. under the HSMP initiated in January 2002 and most of them were facing the prospect of returning home following changes in the immigration rules.

The HSMP Forum, representing the highly-skilled professionals, successfully challenged the changes and won a landmark case last week.

“We are happy to take the judge’s decision as final and do not intend to waste taxpayers money with an appeal,” Lin Homer, Chief Executive of the Border and Immigration Agency, said in a communication to the HSMP Forum executive director Amit Kapadia. “We are now urgently considering how to give effect to the judgment and will let you know the details as soon as we can,” — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

I’m being held by Taliban, says Pakistani envoy
All eyes on Spain’s “ministras”
Anti-French protests in China
Arms deal with Slovakia: a response
Prachanda to lead government
Ex-bishop tipped to become Paraguay President
Strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is our goal, says Pranab
NTPC plant at Sampur as Colombo wants
Sarabjit eager to see daughter
Visit to bolster energy, trade and investment ties
Neighbourhood terrorism a challenge: Sen
Relief for Indian migrants in U.K.
India reaches out to Nordic countries
President Pratibha Patil joins Gandhiji’s admirers in Mexico square

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu