Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to review the UK Government’s new visa rules.

The Chief Minister, who met the British Prime Minister here, pointed out that the movement of skilled tech workers from India should be seen as a trade priority rather than an immigrant issue.

“Temporary placement of highly-skilled individuals in the UK provides a significant economic boost while having a negligible impact on net migration,” he said, referring to the high bar set for granting of UK visas by the British government.

The new visa rules announced by the UK makes it mandatory for tech workers moving to the UK under the Tier-2 intra-company transfer (ICT) category to have a salary of £30,000, against £20,800 earlier.

About 15 per cent of the UK-based companies in India are in Karnataka employing 23,000 people.

During her visit, May chose to visit Airbus supplier Dynamatic Technologies and skipped visiting Indian IT firms headquartered in the city.