The UK government is to come up with strict student visa rules that can cut annual figures by nearly half, from the current 3,00,000 to 170,000. Some university chiefs have opined that many Indian students are already being denied visas on minor grounds as part of a wider move to cut immigration into the UK.
“They are telling some students there is exactly the same quality of course available in India so why are you coming here. That is outrageous,” a UK vice-chancellor said.
“There was a statistically significant decline in the number of non-EU citizens migrating to the UK to study, from 134,000 in the previous year to 111,000, there was a statistically significant decline in citizens of South Asia, with the number coming to study having almost halved,” ONS said in its ‘Migration Statistics Quarterly Report: August 2016’.
Indian Student Community grew by 25 percent in US
“International students contribute, directly and indirectly, 14 billion pounds to the UK economy, making higher education one of this country’s most valuable exports. Over the last five years, the number of Indian students attending UK universities has halved. I have consistently asked the government to remove students from the net migration target,” said Lord Bilimoria, leading Indian-origin entrepreneur and Cobra Beer founder said.
“We should immediately re-introduce the two-year post-study work visa, which I fought hard to introduce before its withdrawal in 2012, to allow foreign students to implement their much-needed skills here and help boost our economy,” he added.
Student visa to Australia (subclass 500)
A UK Home Office spokesperson said: “Claims the Home Office is modelling cuts to reduce international students to a third (ie 100,000 a year) are categorically untrue”.
“We want to strengthen the system to support the best universities – and those that stick to the rules – to attract the best talent. The British people have sent a clear message that they want more control of immigration and we are committed to getting net migration down to sustainable levels in the tens of thousands,” he said.
By Premji
