British govt announces new immigration system for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The British government has announced a new immigration system to enable the “best and brightest” to visit the UK to study, work and live. It would especially be helpful to Pakistani students who like to benefit from the academic opportunities to enter the UK job market.

The British Permanent Home Secretary, Matthew Rycroft, who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, announced on Wednesday UK Home Office’s new immigration system to provide a “level global playing field” for those willing to travel to the UK. “The UK is committed to strengthening visa routes and facilitating those wishing to travel between the two countries,” Rycroft said. The Pakistani students will benefit from the new graduate routes, providing an excellent opportunity to enter the UK job market. Rycroft said that the Home Office is delivering an immigration system that offers clear opportunities to the “brightest and best” from Pakistan to come to the UK to study, work and live.

The home secretary also held meetings at the Ministry of Interior, associated agencies and discussed the shared priorities and future cooperation to affirm bilateral ties. He conferred challenges affecting operational cooperation and identified areas of mutual interest to expand collaboration.

Highlighting the ground-breaking collaboration between the Metropolitan Police and Pakistani authorities last year, which resulted in getting justice for the murder of Dr Imran Farooq, Rycroft expressed his desire to work closely with the government of Pakistan to tackle shared threats and bring criminals to justice.

On recent developments in Afghanistan, Rycroft discussed various security issues, including narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and illicit finance. Earlier in September, former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had also visited Islamabad.