The United Kingdom appears poised to unveil new immigration rules that could make the country less attractive as a destination for Indian workers and students despite the free trade agreement signed between the two nations in early May. Described in a recently released White Paper, the new rules double the time — from five years to 10 years — that foreign nationals would need to reside in the UK before they become eligible for citizenship. Adult dependents of skilled workers on visas will need to prove fluency in English. A visa specifically aimed at bringing healthcare workers and caregivers to the UK might be scrapped. Moreover, the duration of a visa that allowed students to work in the UK after graduating could be shortened from two years to 18 months.

While these proposed rules are part of a broader effort by the Labour Party government to impose restrictions on immigration and are not targeted at any one country, Indians will feel the effects disproportionately. Indians are both the largest work visa recipients in the UK and, apart from the Chinese, form the biggest international student body on British campuses. On the surface, these proposed measures might seem at odds with some of the Labour government's moves over the past few weeks. From free trade deals with India and the United States of America to a separate deal with the European Union, the UK has signalled that it wants, at least to some extent, to reintegrate Britain with the rest of the world, shifting from the isolationist philosophy of Brexit. But in reality, the new immigration rules underscore the growing domestic pressure the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under. Reform UK, the party of the far-Right leader, Nigel Farage, which won the third-highest vote share in the 2024 general election, has continued to surge, winning major local elections over the past week. It is also increasingly trying to outflank Labour from the Left, with Mr Farage reportedly planning to announce that he would remove a two-child cap on publicly paid benefits and provide energy subsidies to all pensioners; the Labour government's approach is based on targeted beneficiaries. The domestic political compulsions notwithstanding, the UK’s new immigration plans are short-sighted. The best students and skilled workers from India and elsewhere will find other countries willing to embrace them, even in today's turbulent world. Ultimately, Britain's loss will be someone else's gain.