Professionals from India stage visa protest in London

LONDON : Indian doctors, IT engineers, teachers and other skilled professionals in the UK joined a demonstration against the Home Office outside Downing Street on Tuesday, protesting against problems they face in their continued stay in a visa category closed in 2011.

The Tier 1 (General) visa, meant for highly skilled professionals who needed a minimum point score to qualify, was shut by Theresa May in 2011, when she was home secretary. Professionals from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries were also present at the demonstration.

Aditi Bhardwaj, one of the organisers of the protest, said that the future of hundreds of Indian professionals and their families was uncertain after they spent nearly a decade in Britain, contributing taxes and skills the country needed.