Prime Minister Theresa May extends visa sweetener to India
Prime Minister Theresa May has today promised a more polished version of the UK's visa deal with India.
This summer's Brexit vote has raised a number of questions surrounding the UK's approach to freedom of movement of people, both within the EU itself and further afield.
Speaking at a press conference as part of her trade mission to India, May said:
The UK will make India the first visa country to have access to our registered traveller scheme, offering many Indians smoother and swifter clearance at the border.
And we have invited the Indian government to become the first government in the world to nominate top business executives for the Great Club – our bespoke visa and immigration service.
We have also agreed to establish a strategic dialogue on home affairs issues covering visas, returns, and organised crime.
As part of this, the UK will consider further improvements to our visa offer if at the same time we can step up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain in the UK.
May added that her day with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been filled with "good, productive talks".
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The trip to India is the Prime Minister's first bilateral trip outside of the EU, and therefore also marks the first visit of its kind since the UK voted for Brexit back in June.
"As the UK leaves the EU and India continues its rise in the world, we should seize the opportunities ahead," May said at today's press conference.