Post-Brexit, Indian students who are in Britain may get the employment rights again after their degree courses. Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha who is High Commissioner to UK said that reinstating the 2 year post-study work visa is likely on bilateral agenda and is being discussed.
Earlier, Indian students were allowed to work in Britain for up to 2 years with post-study work visa which was given a break in 2012. The envoy told reporters in London that there is an expectation in the post-Brexit era priority to sign a bilateral trade deal with the UK that this issue will come up for discussion and it will need to be resolved satisfactorily.
There is an exponential decline in the number of Indian students in the UK from the past six years. Sinha said that when comparing with 40,000 students in 2010, there are only 16,000 students in 2015. We can say that a minor reason for decline in numbers is due to the fake colleges present in UK. In contrast in Australia the number of Indian students has risen from 19,000 in 2010 to 40,000 in 2016, whilst the US has seen a spike from 104,000 to 166,000.
"90% of those applying (for jobs) are given places. The reasons for lower applications are many, but if I was an employer, I would think twice about employing someone who only has the right to work in the UK for four months," Sinha said.
On Brexit's impact on India-UK trade relations, he said, "No formal negotiation can start on any FTA until the UK leaves the EU. But there is a joint working group on trade and services set up as the EU and UK negotiate and we get clarity on what will happen post 29 March, 2019."