India, UK to launch Young Professional Scheme; no job letter needed for visa : The Tribune India

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 16

The Young Professional Scheme, that will permit 3,000 degree holders each from the UK and India to live, study and work in the other country, will be launched on February 28, the MEA said here on Monday on the conclusion of the 15th India-UK Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra and UK Permanent Under-Secretary Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Philip Barton. India will be the first visa national country to benefit from this scheme which is part of the India-UK Migration and Mobility MoU signed in May 2021. This is in line with the Centre’s endeavour to maximise support for the youth and to ensure that they realise the benefits that are due to them, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said earlier this month.

The government’s effort is to create a better global workplace, a more secure travelling experience and a non-discriminatory treatment abroad, he had said. The Young Professionals Scheme will be valid for three years and there is no need of a job offer to apply for this visa, India’s High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami has said.

The FOC also reviewed the “Roadmap 2030 for Future Relations”, including its components like trade, defence and security, S&T, people-to-people ties, health and climate change. India and the UK exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, Commonwealth and UN, the MEA said.