Rules that mean Indian nationals can only work in England for a year after graduating here are frustrating City firms, a Commons committee warned this morning.
The Business and Enterprise Committee called for the government to make it easier for Indians leaving university in England to find meaningful employment here.
Its report, Waking up to India, said that the UK had not been as good as other countries at promoting itself to the rising number of skilled workers on the subcontinent.
Although there are 23,000 Indians currently studying in the UK, the US and Australia are far more attractive destinations, the committee learned.
“The City of London told us that the attractiveness of study in the UK was being constrained by difficulties in securing visas and limitations on working in the UK after graduation,” said the report.
The committee said it was surprising that Indian graduates in Scotland could stay to gain employment experience – and recoup some of the cost of their studies – for two years, while such graduates could only remain in England and Wales for one year.
“We call on the government not only to end this anomaly by extending the period in England and Wales, but to extend the period students may remain in the UK for qualifications in those professions that require specific periods of work experience,” said the report.
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