The Government of India announced it Unlock 3.0 strategy yesterday. One of the points under the “Guidelines for Phased Reopening” stated that that the government will allow the “international air travel of passengers as permitted by the MHA”. This probably comes as a big relief for the immigration industry that has been struggling to stay afloat since the nationwide lockdown and the ban on international travel.
The immigration woes began in late March this year when the govt. announced to implement a strict nationwide lockdown in which all individuals would be barred from leaving the precincts of their individual residences moreover, all businesses were asked to shut down their operations until further notice. The Prime Minister had announced a lockdown till the 14th of April to prevent the spread of the virus and break its chain. During that time, most businesses expected it to last less than 2 weeks but little did they know that the lockdown would eventually last more than 2 months.
During the process, the medium and small immigration enterprises went completely out of business, with many deciding to close their doors permanently. The larger organizations had the capital to survive however, they too didn’t escape unscathed. Many employees working in these organizations were eventually relieved of duty while the others that managed to survive being “axed” were forced to work on a 50% pay cut.
The IELTS institutes had it worse, especially those organizations that solely depended on the IELTS examinations and didn’t provide visa services.
Universities overseas had provided international students with the option to enroll online with some Canadian educational institutions going as far as stating that even if they completed 50% of their course curriculum in their home country; it wouldn’t affect their post graduate work permit (PGWP).
The decision to permit international travel will come as a major relief to not just the Indian immigration industry but to international educational institutions simultaneously. Each year, immigration adds approximately 40 Billion Dollars to the Canadian economy and 35 Billion Dollars to the UK’s.
As per reports, Canada, Australia, and UK, three of the most preferred destinations of international students, stated that this year, they wouldn’t accept any applications from Chinese students.
A major percentage of students enlisting in educational institutions in Canada, UK, and Australia are Chinese nationals and after their recent decisions to bar them from enlisting, Indian nationals have a better chance at visa approvals since Indian’s rank second when it comes to enlisting in educational institutions overseas.
There is a high probability that within the next few days or weeks, IELTS institutions and Visa and Immigration offices will be allowed to commence operations as it is highly likely that VFS centers will follow suite in reopening their offices.