Indian techies have nowhere to go to now

Following the change in visa rules by the US government, Australia too has scrapped its visa programme which was largely used for transfer of skilled foreign workers.

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has done away with the 457 visa, which was started four years ago for entry of highly skilled migrants in the island country.

Also read: IT veteran Mohandas Pai says rigorous visa rules a blessing in disguise for Indian IT firms

As per IT industry analysts, this was a surprise move, given that almost 95,000 skilled migrants are currently in Australia on 457 visas, out of which a major portion is of being Indian techies.

With this move, Australia has become the third country to do away with or change its work visa or permit programme in less than two months. Earlier Singapore, which used to be a large market for Indian engineers, and the US, which attracts techies from world over and was for a long time considered a dream land by Indians, amended their work visa rules to protect local jobs.

Also read: With tougher visa rules, India is sending only its real talent to the US

Indian techies, however, are feeling the heat of these decisions as all these countries used to be on the list of places they could go to for career enhancement and professional growth.

United Kingdom has significantly increased the cost of visas used by Indian techies, which has further increased the chances of Indians not migrating there for jobs or onsite.

(Image source Webifornia)