Concerned about the UK’s proposed visa fee hike and other restrictions on foreign skilled workers, mostly targeted at the Indian IT industry, New Delhi has decided to take up the matter at the India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations forum, when talks start formally.
“We have already indicated to the EU that easy movement of skilled labour to its member states, including the UK, will be on top of our agenda when negotiations begin formally. You cannot be talking free trade while imposing new restrictions on movement of labour,” a government official told BusinessLine .
The Centre also plans to take up the issue bilaterally with the UK soon, with the trade policy division of the Commerce Ministry currently engaged in examining the contents of the UK’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report made public on Tuesday, the official said.
Directly attacking Indian IT companies in its report, the MAC – which proposed a £1,000 skills levy on companies for every worker hired from abroad – stated that ready access to a pool of skilled IT professionals in India was an example of how immigration was not serving to increase the incentive to employers to train and upskill the UK workforce.
The report further proposed an increased minimum salary limit for intra-company transfers (ICTs) to limit movements of skilled workers to just employees at senior levels.
The UK Home Office is examining the report and is expected to take a decision on the matter soon.
Curbs decried“India’s skilled pool of labour is something that the world should take advantage of and not suppress. In a world where we are propagating free movement of goods and services, putting restrictions on movement of professionals under such flimsy grounds is unwarranted,” the official said.
Negotiators from India and the EU met in New Delhi early this week to discuss issues that the two sides wanted to be addressed in the proposed bilateral FTA. Although a final decision on resuming talks on the pact, formally known as the Broad-based Trade and Investments Agreement, will be taken at the Commerce Secretary level meeting, both sides indicated to the media that the discussions were positive.
The UK MAC’s report comes on the heels of the US decision to double a levy on visa for short-term workers (H1B and L1 visas).
According to the MAC report, Indian professionals accounted for the largest number of visas under Tier 2 (issued for ICT) in the year ending September 2015. As much as 90 per cent of Tier 2 visas issued to Indian workers went to those working for IT companies.
The proposed move has been criticised by representatives of several industry bodies in the UK such as the Institute of Directors and the Confederation of British Industry which warn that cutting skilled migration will hurt the British economy.