UK and India sign Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement

In a landmark move, the Home Secretary Priti Patel and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar signed the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement on the 4th May. This migration agreement aims to support people in living and working in both countries, while also ensuring greater co-operation between the two countries when fighting organised migration crime.

This agreement introduces a new route for individuals aged between 18 and 30 to work and live in the other country for up to 24 months, in a similar fashion to current Youth Mobility Schemes.

Building on the UK Prime Minister’s pledge to improve bilateral relations with India, this historic partnership is also intended to accelerate timescales for removals and make it easier for Indian nationals to be identified and returned when required – reflecting the commitments of both governments to tackling immigration and national security issues and delivering on the UK governments New Plan for Immigration.

Almost 25% of international students in the UK at present are from India, with recent statistics showing that more than 53,000 students came to the UK from India in 2020 – a 42%rise on the previous year.

“I am committed to delivering for the British public a fair but firm New Plan for Immigration that will attract the best and brightest talent to UK through our new points-based immigration system, whilst clamping down on those who are abusing the system. This ground-breaking new agreement with India is an important milestone in delivering on this pledge.”

“This landmark agreement with our close partners in the government of India will provide new opportunities to thousands of young people in the UK and India seeking to live, work and experience each other’s cultures. This agreement will also ensure that the British government can remove those with no right to be in UK more easily and crackdown on those abusing our system.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel