KOCHI: An estimated 10,000 UK visas were issued to Keralites monthly between January and October this year, according to Chandru Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner to Kerala and Karnataka.
They included student, tourist and business visas. Around one lakh people from the State had gone to the UK since January 2023, he said at a media interaction at the conclusion of ‘UK in Kerala’ week here on Friday.
Maintaining that around 1.6 lakh student visas were issued to Indians last year, Mr. Iyer said studying in the UK had turned attractive for Indian students, as they could stay up to two years after completion of studies. “The UK had issued five lakh tourist visas and one lakh business visas to Indian nationals in the past one year. On all three accounts, we have given the highest number of visas to India, and it accounted for around 30% of all visas issued by the UK,” he said.
On opportunities for nurses from Kerala in the UK, Mr. Iyer said the National Health Service (NHS) trusts had been engaging with State government agencies including NoRKA-Roots and ODEPC (Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants). Around 200 nursing professionals from Kerala had accepted offers from the trusts following two recent career fests organised by the agencies, he said.
Mr. Iyer suggested that nurses, who were exploring opportunities on their own, could visit the official website of the NHS to express interest in various openings. “We would suggest them to look at openings coming through NoRKA-Roots and ODEPC as they are government agencies,” he added.
