Pressure on the British government to review a policy that has led to highly skilled Indians being denied the right to remain in Britain because of minor errors in their tax returns has continued to build as thousands have signed up to a petition, urging action by Britain’s new Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
The petition, which urges Mr. Javid to “stop abusing the national security clause to deport highly skilled migrants”, had over 20,000 signatories in less than a day after going live on the petition site.
It comes after Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes told a parliamentary committee that she would look into the issue, after concerns were raised by MPs about highly skilled migrants, particularly of South Asian origin, being denied an indefinite leave to remain in the U.K. because they had made minor changes to their tax submissions.
“The petition reflects the huge amount of support we have from the public on the issue… they don’t want to see people being treated like criminals just because of minor tax rectifications,” says Aditi Bhardwaj, one of the founders of the Highly Skilled Migrants U.K. group, which brought the issue to light.
Right to remain
During a parliamentary hearing earlier this week, Ms. Nokes admitted that many people, “probably” including herself and members of her family, made minor rectifications to their tax returns.
The campaign group, which has come together over the past few months has noted that an increasing number of men and women who had come to the U.K. on Tier 1 Highly Skilled visas were being denied the right to remain using clause 322 (5) of the immigration rules.
The clause allows for refusal based on the “undesirability” of the person remaining in the United Kingdom based on convictions, character or the fact that they represented a threat to national security.
Abusing rules
“The clause is designed to combat terrorism and should only be used in cases where an individual poses a genuine threat to national security,” reads the petition, which accuses the government of abusing the rules to deport doctors, engineers, lawyers and others.
“It’s destroying lives of families who have come here legally and worked hard for years paying taxes and contributing to our society.”
