India and the UK are set to establish a new visa arrangement where 3,000 Indians with a degree between the ages of 18 to 30 years will be allowed to come to Britain every year to live and work for up to two years.
The UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, which will be reciprocal and begin in early 2023, is set to be launched during the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak at the G20 Summit in Bali.
“India is the first visa-national country to benefit from such a scheme, highlighting the strength of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership agreed last year”, as per an official statement.
“Under the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, the UK will offer 3,000 places annually to 18–30-year-old degree-educated Indian nationals to come to the UK to live and work here for up to two years. The scheme will be reciprocal”, the statement added.
Sunak said, “I know first-hand the incredible value of the deep cultural and historic ties we have with India. I am pleased that even more of India’s brightest young people will now have the opportunity to experience all that life in the UK has to offer – and vice-versa – making our economies and societies richer.”
The UK has more links with India than almost any country in the Indo-Pacific and almost a quarter of all international students in Britain are from India, and Indian investment in the UK supports 95,000 jobs, the statement said.
“The Indo-Pacific is increasingly crucial for our security and our prosperity. It is teeming with dynamic and fast-growing economies, and the next decade will be defined by what happens in this region,” Sunak said.