MIGRATION 2LST

Green sought to assure that the proposed changes in the
immigration policy will not hurt economic engagement between
Britain and India.
He said a limit will be drawn from April-April each year
on the number of immigrants to be allowed under specific
categories and that limit will be reviewed each year.
He said the British government wants to reduce net
immigration to the levels seen in the 1990s--"tens of
thousands each year and not hundreds of thousands".
"The new limit on economic migration, on which we are
currently consulting, will allow us to attract the best talent
in UK--those whose skills we need," he said.
Britian requires skilled people from across the board
including "maths teachers, health professionals, fish cutters
and sheep shearers", Green said.
To another question, he said the number of Indians
seeking permanent residency in 2009 in the UK was 5,700 as
against 6,000 in 2008 but during this year again there had
been a surge in the number of such applicants.
The Immirgation Minister said while people coming from
Punjab to visit their families in the UK or as tourists was
welcome, these routes should not be used to evade Britain's
immigration rules.
Green also said that UK wants the best students to
come there on Student Visas.
"I want them to study at high quality institutions and
get the most from their education in UK. I do not want to see
a repeat of the suspension in Tier4 applications in North
India earlier this year (when visa was stopped for students
from North India).
"We are therefore evaluating the student visa provisions
to ensure that they support those high quality students who
genuinely want to study", he said. PTI SUN/AKA
MYR


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