Beginning this month, foreign students attending UK colleges will need to adhere to more stringent visa regulations that limit the number of family members they are permitted to bring.
According to the UK government’s official website, the reforms were started by previous home secretary Suella Braverman with the intention of “slashing migration and curbing abuse of the immigration system” and went into force on Monday.
Postgraduate research courses and those with government-funded scholarships are the main groups affected by these limitations.
About 140,000 fewer people are expected to enter the nation as a result of these reforms, which are meant to stop the misuse of student visas as a way to get employment, according to the UK Home Office.
In addition,first announced in May of last year, we will see an estimated 140,000 fewer individuals enter the UK, and we have also seen people prohibited from using the student visa as a backdoor to work in the country, according to the website.
As part of a larger plan to lower the high number of migrants and stop those abusing the nation’s lax immigration laws, the UK is planning to amend its regulations pertaining to students.
Official data reveals a stunning 930% increase in dependent visas since 2019.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that by September 2023, 152,980 student dependent visas had been issued, a considerable rise from 14,839 in September 2019.
Additionally, the ONS calculated that net migration from June was 672,000.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, stated: “This government is keeping its promise to the British people to reduce immigration.
“We have set out a tough plan to rapidly bring numbers down, control our borders, and prevent people from manipulating our immigration system, which will come into force throughout this year.”
With the modifications, he continued, migration will “fall rapidly by the tens of thousands and contribute to our overall strategy to prevent 300,000 people from coming to the UK.”
