Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to review the new visa rules announced by the UK government and conveyed that movement of skilled tech workers from India should be seen as a trade priority rather than an immigrant issue.
“Temporary placement of highly-skilled individuals in the UK provides a significant economic boost while having a negligible impact on net migration,” he said, referring to the high bar set for granting UK visas.
The Chief Minister, who welcomed Ms May at the airport, had a one-on-one meeting with the UK premier. The new rules would make it mandatory for tech workers moving to the UK under the Tier 2 intra-company transfer (ICT) category to have a salary of £30,000 as against £20,800 earlier.
About 15 per cent of UK-based companies in India are in Karnataka and employ 23,000 people. Several Karnataka-based companies, such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Dynamatic Technologies, Biocon, Microlabs, continue to expand their presence in the UK. Ms May did not visit any of the top Indian IT firms headquartered in Bengaluru.
