Software group petitions EU for UK visa flexibility
September 09 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
UK visa petition for India IT workers
A software organisation has petitioned for work visas that allow Indian IT workers to move freely between the European Union’s 27 member countries.
Software industry group National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) made the EU petition in hopes of simplifying visa requirements for Indian employees.
IT workers are currently required to apply for separate visas each time they enter a different EU country. For example, if they are employed in the UK on a UK visa, they must apply for new documents if their work takes them to Germany or France.
The workers are also required to apply for each visa from their home country, complicating the professional lives of those working on multinational assignments.
CFO of Infosys Technologies V Balakrishnan said, “A single work visa will help ease the situation.”
About 28% of the Infosys’ $5bn revenues are generated in Europe, and the company says there is potential for European revenue share to grow by 40% over the next few years.
The software industry has topped 45% growth in Europe in the past three years, with Indian IT workers make up a significant percentage of the workforce.
Nasscom’s EU petition proposes that work visas for Indian workers be modelled on intra-company transfer UK visas, which permit employees to transfer between company locations in different countries.
It also proposes that the services of Indian workers not be confined to any one company.
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