The United Kingdom is all set to open up its new immigration scheme to eligible Indians. The best part – you don’t need a sponsor or a job offer to apply. UK’s Young Professionals Scheme will allow degree-holding Indian nationals in the age group 18-30 years to live and work in Britain for up to two years. The UK-India Young Professionals Scheme will offer 3,000 places annually.
Eligible applicants must submit their interest in the Young Professionals Scheme by entering into a ballot between 28 February and 2 March, the British High Commission in India said in a tweet. The ballot will randomly select ballot entrants and if successful, will invite you to submit your visa application.
The program will be reciprocal, also allowing UK professionals in the same position to participate in a professional exchange by living and working in India.
To be eligible, the applicant must:
- have been issued with an invitation to apply in accordance with the invitation to apply arrangements
- have made their application within the period of time specified on that invitation to apply
- provide the unique application number for that invitation to apply
- provide a local police certificate or a police clearance certificate that has been issued no more than 6 months before the date of application
- hold a qualification equal to or above RQF level 6 (Bachelor’s degree or above)
As proof of education, applicants must submit
- a copy of the qualification
- written confirmation from the college or university that the applicant has completed their studies and graduated with the required qualification
It is part of the larger Youth Mobility Scheme, that works through a two-tier system, where applicants from Australia (30,000 places), Canada (6,000), Monaco (1,000), New Zealand (13,000), San Marino (1,000) and Iceland (1,000) can directly apply for a visa, while applications from Japan (1,500), South Korea (1,000), Hong Kong (1,000), Taiwan (1,000) and India (3,000) go through a selection by ballot.
Apart from Japan, India is the only visa-requiring country that has this scheme. India overtook China as the largest source country for student visas issued by the UK in the 12 months ending June 2022, according to UK Home Office statistics.
The MEA statement said that India and the UK share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with the adoption of Roadmap 2030 for Future Relations.
