UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could be considering drastic steps to curb sky-rocketing immigration, including a ban on foreign students from attending all but the best universities.
The prime minister’s official spokesman has said Sunak was “fully committed” to bringing overall immigration levels down and blamed “unprecedented and unique circumstances” for the record high.
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“We’re considering all options to make sure the immigration system is delivering, and that does include looking at the issue of student dependents and low-quality degrees,” the official added.
This would be in line with proposals being explored by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has previously complained about foreign students “bringing in family members who can piggyback onto their student visa” and “propping up, frankly, substandard courses in inadequate institutions”. The UK Prime Minister on Thursday vowed that immigration will fall and hinted at a crackdown on student visas after net numbers coming to the UK soared to a “breathtaking” record high of 504,000 in the year to June.
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The potential block for international students will hit India the most.
Indian students have for the first time overtaken Chinese as the largest group of foreign students studying in the UK with a massive 273 per cent hike in visas granted over the past few years, according to the country’s official immigration statistics.
In the YE June 2022, people arriving on study visas accounted for the largest proportion (39%) of long-term immigra… https://t.co/dz9s3KBuQO
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) 1669282289000
The UK Home Office data collated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that Indians also continue to be the top nationality granted visas in the skilled worker category, with 56,042 granted work visas in the past year.
Indian nationals also represented the highest number of visas at 36 per cent of the total under the tailored Skilled Worker Health and Care visa targeted at medical professionals, reinforcing Indian contribution to the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
ET Online
