A Member of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament, Carol Monaghan has kicked against the new visa policy by the government of UK aimed at international students.
The new visa policy is expected to take effect by January 2024 after the UK government made the decision on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
The Parliament member from Glasgow North West, stated that international students make valuable contributions, especially to the UK’s economy.
According to her, the UK government’s new policy on international students’ visas is misjudged.
She said Scotland would have to suffer the consequences as she described it as a misjudged policy of the government in which she said international students enriched the UK’s society in all sectors, including health, IT and universities.
The latest policy will now restricts international students, including those from Nigeria, from bringing their family members except those on postgraduate research purposes.
Specifically, the government banned people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK, while noting that net migration was over 500,000 between June 2021 and June 2022.
A statement issued by Suella Braverman who is UK’s Secretary of State for the Home Department, stated that half a million student visas were issued while the number of dependents of overseas students has increased by 750% since 2019 to 136,000 people.
She added that the new reforms would come into effect for students starting in January 2024 with severe restrictions around dependents.
“The government will however work with the higher education sector to explore alternative options to ensure the brightest and best students can continue to bring dependents when they study at the UK’s world-leading universities,” she said.
Overseas students migrating into the UK have contributed more than £4 billion to the Scottish economy.
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