UK-India Young Professionals Scheme: No sponsor, no job necessary for two-year stay

Permanent Secretary at the UK Home Office, Matthew Rycroft, and the High Commissioner of India in the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, signing the YPS letters. (Photo by Danish Khan)

The signing and exchange of the Young Professionals Scheme (YPS) letters between India and UK marks a new chapter in the visa regime between the countries. India joins just a handful of countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Iceland, San Marino, Monaco, South Korea and Hong Kong to have a scheme where 3,000 individuals aged 18-30 can live and work in the UK for two years without the need for a sponsor or a job on hand. Apart from Japan, India is the only visa-requiring country that has this scheme.

In May 2021, Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar and the then UK home secretary Priti Patel had signed the wider “Migration and Mobility Partnership” in Delhi which had YPS as one of the key highlights. On Monday (January 9, 2023), High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, and UK Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft signed and exchanged YPS letters marking its imminent launch.

The UK Youth Mobility Scheme 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.

Specific details regarding India have not been announced, but it is likely it will be largely aligned with the system in place for the other selection-by-ballot countries Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Taking into consideration India’s population and huge interest anticipated in the scheme, India has been given the larger number of 3,000. Applicants can enter the ballot by sending an email which is accepted twice a year, usually in the months of January and July.

The first ballot of the 2023 Youth Mobility Scheme opens on Tuesday 17 January and will close on Thursday 19 January. However, as of now, this does not include applications from India, for which the ballot is not open yet. Considering that the ballot for other countries is only a few days away, there is tremendous anticipation on whether India will be included in the January 2023 leg or not. Diplomats at the Indian high commission said that the implementation date, checklist for eligibility, and step-by-step application procedures will be shared shortly.

It is expected that the applicants from India will need to show a certain amount of money in their bank accounts (it is £2,530, approximately Rs 2.50 lakh, for other countries) to show that they can support themselves while in the UK. The other criteria is that applicants should not have children under the age of 18 living with them or children they are financially responsible for. Those successful will have no access to public funds although they will benefit from the UK’s National Health Services (NHS).

The formalising of the YPS comes at a time when both countries are locked in a first of its kind mammoth Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. But more importantly, over the last few months, several Tory ministers including current home secretary Suella Braverman have spoken about the need to curtail and regulate international student migration, including from India. Although Braverman had gone on to say that she had “some reservations” on giving visa flexibility to Indians, the fact that the YPS has been formalised suggests that there is a huge difference between rhetoric and reality. The YPS signifies a high level of trust between the countries, making India the first South Asian country to have such a liberal reciprocal visa arrangement with the UK.

Migration and the international student visa regime have often been irritants in the relationship between the countries. In 2018, the UK had excluded Indian students when it drew up a list of countries deemed low risk to facilitate an easier and quicker visa application process to universities in the UK. At that time Lord Karan Bilimoria had said it was “another kick in the teeth for India”, describing India’s exclusion as “myopically short-sighted.” In the mid-1980s, Rajiv Gandhi had incensed the UK government by saying that British visa controls for Indians were racist. The UK Foreign Office had summoned the then Indian high commissioner P.C. Alexander to mark their disapproval of Gandhi’s remarks.

For decades, a key demand from New Delhi has been easier access for its students, professionals and entrepreneurs. Applications for UK visas since the last several years have been linked to confirmed places in universities, job offers by UK companies, professionals working in high demand sectors, or those with millions to park in UK banks. The YPS marks a new dawn wherein both countries have rolled out a scheme for the other's nationals to come and work without the burden of making huge investments or a job offer in hand.

In some cases like New Zealand, the scheme was expanded to include those aged 30-35 and increasing the length of stay from two to three years, which points out that the YPS too offers tremendous scope. Although observers say that migration in the UK is such a belligerent issue that it would continue to spring surprises in the future. But for now, there is increased optimism as the YPS between India and the UK marks a critical shift.