Home Secretary James Cleverly had called for an urgent review in March, and the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) examined whether the visa was being exploited and whether it was not being “driven more by a desire for immigration”.
After finishing a degree program in the UK, international students are allowed to remain in the country for a maximum of three years with a graduate visa. Children and partners are also eligible to apply as dependents.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said last week in a report that the graduate visa should be abolished because it “allowed people to come and work.”
Academic and business officials had expressed concerns that the 2021 route—which saw a sharp decline in the number of applications from overseas students—might be discontinued or severely limited if the assessment had been unfavorable.
