The United Kingdom government has vindicated its move to refuse the right to live and work for hundreds of India professionals in Britain, stating that the applicants caught up in a visa row are chargeable of misconduct.
The UK Home Office, following a long-drawn campaign by the Highly Skilled Migrants group, had opened a review into Tier 1 (General) visa cases involving skilled professions from countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan being refused Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under national security clause.
UK Minister of Immigration Caroline Nokes at the conclusion of the first phase of the review reported in a letter to the House of Commons influential Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) that her department’s judgment to decline applications of the UK’s immigration rules under paragraph 322(5) due to a disagreement in reported earnings had been “correct”.
The letter by Nokes likewise recognized that the review had thrown up 380 cases of Home Office refusals being overturned and allowed on appeal.
“Although the earnings issues were considered on appeal, the majority were overturned solely on human rights grounds rather than because of decision-making errors relating to earnings,” Nokes said.
At the minister’s endeavor to downplay this figure, the Highly Skilled Migrants Group expressed their daze, where applicants won their request in at least 38 instances, a figure anticipated to go up once the review into the leftover 1,671 cases is accomplished in the next few weeks.
“It just proves our point about Paragraph 322(5) being used disproportionately. The very fact that these appeals are being allowed on human rights grounds should hopefully prevent the future disproportionate use of this clause and prevent applicants from having to challenge Home Office decisions in court,” said Aditi Bhardwaj, coordinator of the group, which has been lobbying ministers through major protests outside the UK Parliament since early this year.
The row pertains unsettled from outside the European Union (EU) who were eligible to apply for permanent residency status, after a minimum of a period of five years of legal residency in the UK.
While in 2011, the Tier 1 visa they used was interrupted, until April this year former applicants were entitled to apply for ILR if they made up the needed amount of factors on their application.
By Sowmya Sangam
 who were eligible to apply for permanent residency status, after a minimum of period of five years legal residency in the UK.){kind=link}