British authorities tightens grip on dependents of worldwide faculty college students

By Loveena Tandon: Under stress to reduce the report improve in internet migration, the British authorities tightened its grip on dependents of worldwide faculty college students.

“From January 2024, there will be restrictions on the ability for international students to bring family members on all but post-graduate research routes and banning people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK,” the British government specified as a change of rules.

The overseas students “will be stopped from switching from the student visa route to work routes until their studies have been completed”, they further added.

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Immigration lawyer Hasil Makkar, Managing Director of Maalik Co Solicitors, who responded to the changes in an interview with India Today TV, said, “Some of the changes to the rules relating to international students are surprising, especially not being able to change to a sponsored work route without completing your studies, when the person can simply return to their country and apply under this route.”

Going a step further, the government aims to tighten their grip on agents who might be supporting inappropriate applications.

Though not specified in so many words, the intention must be to target those who conduct fake marriages in order to get a backdoor entry through the dependent visa route that allows full working rights in the UK for the spouse.

In a further attempt to tighten the grip, the students would need to, “demonstrate they can look after themselves and their dependants in the UK”, the rules state.

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Calling a rise in student dependent visas “unprecedented”, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said, “It is time for us to tighten up this route to ensure we can cut migration numbers and meet the government’s pledge to the British people to cut net migration. This is the fair thing to do to allow us to better protect our public services, while supporting the economy by allowing the students who contribute the most to keep coming here.

Last year, almost half a million student visas were issued while the number of dependants of overseas students has increased by 750% since 2019, to 136,000 people.”

Acknowledging the government’s concern over the rise in the number of dependent visas and the pressure it puts on the public services, Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of Universities UK International in a statement to India Today said: “While the overwhelming majority of students is likely to be unaffected by proposals that prohibit the facility to be accompanied by dependents, further information is required on the programmes which could be in scope sooner than an accurate analysis of the have an effect on could possibly be made. Yet we do know that any changes usually tend to have a disproportionate have an effect on on ladies and faculty college students from positive worldwide places. We on account of this reality urge the federal authorities to work with the sector to limit and monitor the have an effect on on express groups of students – and on universities, which can be already beneath vital financial pressures. The consider course of that has been launched ought to ponder these factors.”

International faculty college students carry an entire benefit of ã41.9 billion to the UK monetary system, whereas inside the last yr till December 2022, migration figures inside the UK touched a report extreme of 606,000.

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It’s a efficient stability to strike between curbing immigration on account of stress it lays on most people service and the monetary benefit of overseas faculty college students, considering they pay 3 instances of the worth as compared with native faculty college students, who’ve entry to low-interest loans too.

Recognising this, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said, “Attracting the top students from around the world isn’t just good for our universities – it’s essential for our economy and building vital global relationships. But the number of family members being brought to the UK by students has risen significantly. It is right we are acting to reduce this number while maintaining commitment to our International Education Strategy, which continues to enrich the UK’s education sector and make a significant contribution to the wider economy.”

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