Highly skilled Indian migrants protest ‘taxing’ UK immigration regime

Nisha, originally from Mumbai, has lived in the UK since 2008, first as a student, then in research for the pharmaceutical sector on a tier-I Highly Skilled visa. However, her hopes of making a life in the country were upended in 2016 when Britain’s Home Office rejected her application for an indefinite leave to remain in the country.

The reason given was their dissatisfaction with tax rectifications made in the past — due to errors in filings by her accountant, which were subsequently rectified by a new accountant and accepted by Britain’s tax office. Such changes are considered part and parcel of any tax filing system — and would ordinarily have had no impact on an individual’s life once the corrections were made and accepted.

A campaign group largely comprising South Asians in Britain believe her case is far from an exception and that she is one of a growing number of highly skilled professionals who have had their application to remain rejected or delayed because of amendments made to their tax filings.

Misuse of rules

Campaigners say that with increasing regularity, a clause within Britain’s immigration legislation, which focusses on a person’s character and is intended to prevent the settlement of criminals, is being used to reject applicants.

They believe the government is misusing rules originally intended to prevent those considered undesirable from settling in the country, by attempting to negatively portray workers who had simply made tax filing errors.

Over a hundred protestors, including Nisha, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “STOP Hostile Environment; Highly Skilled Migrants” gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday. It is one of several protests held by the group since the start of the year, as Britain’s immigration regime faces increased scrutiny.

Aditi Bhardwaj, one of the leaders of the campaign, believes the use of this mechanism by the Home Office is part of its wider “hostile environment” approach, intended to help it meet government ambitions of reducing immigration from the tens to the hundreds of thousands. Bhardwaj pointed to some of the Subject Access Requests (SAR) — internal case working notes — that members of the group had requested access to following unsuccessful ILR applications.

She believes these documents showed that decisions were based on policy priorities rather than the merits of a particular case. “They show they’ve made their decision and are just looking for any excuse to justify their policy.”

Windrush impact

The campaign has been building over the past year but has gained increased attention in the wake of revelations around Britain’s treatment of the Windrush generation: migrants from the Commonwealth who had come to the UK at a time when they had the right to remain indefinitely in Britain but had had their rights questioned under a toughened immigration regime.

These revelations have triggered a wider debate on whether Britain’s immigration regime, in its efforts to reduce migration figures, was unjustly hitting those in Britain perfectly legitimately.

Bhardwaj is hopeful that several test cases — including Nisha’s — facing judicial review in the coming months could help provide direction to the Home Office on the issue. She believes time is of the essence.

“Many of these people face terrible hardship. They have no right to work, or to rent, they may have their driving licence revoked…most have to go to reporting centres,” says Bhardwaj who believes that there were many from India and beyond who reluctantly decided to leave Britain because of the lack of options before them and the lack of appeal routes.

Due to legislative changes made in 2014, Nisha was not able to appeal her case through the courts, and has pushed for a judicial review of her case at great expense. Unable to work and facing financial hardship, she is horrified by the situation she and others find themselves in. “I’m incredibly passionate about the work I’ve been doing. I’ve been here so many years, and given my life to this country. This situation is just killing all of us from the inside.”

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