The UK government on Tuesday announced a new immigration crackdown targeted at overseas students, including Indians, and their visa right to bring dependent family members to the country while enrolled at a British institution. UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said that only international students on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes will be allowed to bring in their family members, including children and elderly parents, as their dependents. There are new changes in the UK Student visa also. From October 2023, the country will gradually start to require certain visitors to the UK to obtain Electronic Travel Authorizations (ETAs) before travelling to the UK. This will start with only a few nationalities and the scheme will be expanded over time. Those applying for student visas will not require an ETA. The Indian-origin minister said the new package of measures was necessary after it emerged that around 136,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending December 2022 which is more than eight-fold increase from 16,000 in 2019. Removing the ability for international students to switch out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed and reviewing the maintenance requirements for students and dependents are listed among the other new measures. However it is possible for students in the UK to switch to a UK work visa such as the Skilled Worker visa, provided they meet the eligibility requirements.The minister also pledged steps to clamp down on unscrupulous education agents who may be supporting inappropriate applications to sell immigration not education. Improved and more targeted enforcement activity is also listed within the new package. Braverman said that the UK will work with universities over the course of the next year to design an alternative approach that ensures that the best and the brightest students can bring dependents to the world-leading universities in the UK while continuing to reduce net migration. It is learnt that the vast majority of students will be unaffected by proposals that limit the ability to be accompanied by the dependents. However it is learnt that in terms of the number of the dependents accompanying these students, Nigerians rank the highest followed by Indians. Incidentally Indians have recently overtaken China as the leading nationality that has been granted study visas to the UK. The country is an ever-growing study destination among international students across the globe. With an array of top-ranked universities and world-renowned learning institutions, the UK certainly has a stellar reputation as the go-to study destination. This and its vibrant and eventful student life make the UK a student favourite.
