2023-05-23 20:42:28
The British government announced on Tuesday the imposition of visa restrictions that will affect foreign students and their families, at a time when the Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak seeks to curb the increasing immigration, especially after “Brexit”.
The United Kingdom recorded record immigration rates with half a million people between June 2021 and June 2022, and new numbers are expected to be revealed this week, continuing the upward pattern.
And while British universities attract thousands of foreign students annually, the visa restrictions will “significantly reduce” the number of immigrants by “reducing the possibility for foreign students to bring family members with them,” according to a government statement.
What new measures will be implemented in January?
- Only postgraduate students on research programs, ie those that normally last more than two years, will be able to bring their family members.
- Students will be prevented from obtaining a work visa instead of a student visa before completing their studies.
- The government has vowed to act against “unscrupulous agents” who exploit student visas as a means of immigration.
How did the government comment on the decision?
“We have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of student dependents arriving in the country with a visa,” said Interior Minister Soila Braverman.
– She considered that the new measures provide a “fair balance” and allow “in the medium term” the return of immigration rates to Britain to pre-pandemic levels.
– Immigration was a major focus in the campaign that led to the vote in favor of Britain’s exit from the European Union in 2016, but the conservatives who succeeded in power failed to reduce the levels of regular and irregular immigration.
– While the government seeks to reduce the number of immigrants, the country has faced, since Brexit, a shortage of labor, especially in the fields of agriculture and health.
– Sunak recently acknowledged the need to issue tens of thousands of seasonal visas to compensate for the shortage in agriculture, in a position that contradicts Braverman’s opinion.
– Addressing a conference of ultra-conservatives, Braverman said she saw no reason why “the United Kingdom should not be able to equip itself with heavy-duty truck drivers and fruit pickers to reduce immigration.”
According to official figures, the authorities issued about 136,000 student visas in 2022, compared to 16,000 in 2019.
concern on the part of universities
- The measures have alarmed prestigious universities, who fear losing an important source of revenue, as foreign students often pay exorbitant tuition fees to enroll in them.
- The Russell Group, which represents academic institutions such as Cambridge and Oxford, said government measures could affect efforts to “diversify” international students.
- “Those who choose to study in Britain bring with them an important value to our society and deserve to live alongside their relatives during their studies,” said Joe Grady, Secretary General of the Higher Education Union. “Instead, they are treated with contempt.”
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