Will UK's new visa rules impact Indian students? Here's what report says

The United Kingdom's official immigration data was released on Thursday, which revealed that net migration in 2022 reached a record high of 606,000. The data also revealed that Indians bagged the top spot on the skilled worker tally along with the student visas issued over last year. 

A day before the official data was released, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government announced new rules for international students. The UK Home Office in its order stated that it will disallow international students from bringing their dependants along to the UK. The government only decided to allow PhD students to bring their dependents along. 

 

The new visa rules are expected to come into place in January 2024. Home Secretary Suella Braverman also announced that the government is mulling removing the ability for international students to switch to work visas before finishing their courses.

Talking about the new policy changes, Braverman later tweeted, "The significant rise in students bringing family members is putting untenable pressure on public services. Tightening the student route will help to cut migration by restricting post-graduate students from bringing dependents or using the route as a backdoor to work."

The significant rise in students bringing family members is putting untenable pressure on public services.

Tightening the student route will help to cut migration by restricting post-graduate students from bringing dependents or using the route as a backdoor to work. 1/2

— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) May 24, 2023

According to a LiveMint report, Yash Dubal, director of A Y & J Solicitors, said that the decision to disallow students is a political one as many politicians in the UK are of the opinion that the current migration in the country is too high. He also added the ruling Conservative party pledged to bring the numbers down, and general elections will take place in the UK next year. 

Speaking to LiveMint, Ajay Sharma, Founder and President – Abhinav Immigration Services said that the proposed policy cannot be considered a blanket ban. Further adding that visas for dependents may be issued to students of top universities or high-value courses.

In the year ending March 2023, a total of 138,532 sponsored study visa grants to Indian nationals. which was an increase of 63 per cent as compared to the last year.