British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is planning to reduce the period of stay allowed for overseas students under the existing post-study visa route, in another move to curb immigration into UK.
The post-study visa, officially referred to as ‘Graduate Visa’ currently allows foreign graduates including Nigerians to stay up to two years after completing their studies, without the requirement of a specific employment offer.
In 2021 a record 486,000 visas were granted to foreign students studying at British universities, Braverman is looking at how to reduce this number.
According to a report in The Times, Braverman has drawn up a plan to ‘reform’ the ‘Graduate Visa’ route requiring students to obtain a work visa by getting a skilled job or leave the UK after six months.
However, the education ministry is opposing the move as it fears that change would harm the UK’s attractiveness to international students, arguing that the two-year Graduate Visa scheme was aligned with most of Britain’s main competitors, with only the US offering a one-year visa.
A government source who backs Braverman’s plan said the Graduate Visa is being increasingly used by students on short courses at “less respectable universities”.
“It’s being used as a backdoor immigration route,” the source was quoted as saying.
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Figures published last week showed there were 680,000 foreign students in the UK. The government’s 2019 Higher Education Strategy included a target of 600,000 students by 2030, which was met last year itself.
The home secretary’s proposal is reportedly among several drawn up after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked her office and education department to submit proposals for reducing the number of foreign students coming to the UK.
Another plan being considered by the UK Home Office would reportedly allow foreign students to bring dependent family members with them only if they were on postgraduate research-based courses such as a PhD, or postgraduate courses that were at least two years long.
According to the report, the UK Home Office refused to comment on the leak, but a government spokesperson said: “Our points-based system is designed to be flexible according to the UK’s needs, including attracting top-class talent from across the world to contribute to the UK’s excellent academic reputation and to help keep our universities competitive on the world stage.
“We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
