Strict Visa Rules By UK Immigration To Avoid Illegal Immigration

26 Aug 2010

Damian Green, UK Immigration Minister, on Tuesday, during a visit to India said that British would not allow students, migrants or immigration agents from Punjab to abuse its visa rules. He stressed that there would be zero limit in unskilled migration.

Mr.Green said,”The government is committed to reducing migration to the UK and we are currently consulting on limiting economic migration. We have also decided to keep in place the zero limit on unskilled migration.”

“But the UK continues to want to attract the brightest and the best – the investors and the entrepreneurs – the people that make our economies grow. There is no contradiction in wanting to reduce migration and wanting to encourage inward investment and talented migrants. We can do both,”

After meeting Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and senior Punjab police officials, he said, “ I met members of Punjab police and saw excellent examples of the way in which the police have been helping the UK Border Agency in the fight against unscrupulous agents and attempts to use fraudulent means to get UK visas.”

He added that,” Many highly skilled people from Punjab and other parts of India have been coming to the UK for years. Britain has benefitted from this migration from India and elsewhere and will continue to do so. But this migration must be controlled in order to maximize the benefits –both for the UK and those who are coming to work and live”.

He also mentioned that he is in India to explain the changes to the UK’s immigration system and the reasons for them. And the British government was going very strict with visa rules.

“Many people from Punjab visit their families or come to the UK as tourists every year. I welcome this and will be looking at how we can make our visa processes more effectively support tourism to the UK. At the same time, I want to ensure that these routes are used properly and not to evade the UK’s immigration rules.” “Likewise, we want the best students to come to Britain. I want them to study at high quality institutions and get the most from their education in Britain. I do want to see a repeat of the suspension in Tier 4 (student visa) applications in North India this year,” he said.

“I want to make sure that genuine students who come to the UK get proper educational benefits from their study”, he said.