New Visa Regulations Announced

The British Home Secretary Theresa May announced today that the number of non-EU students granted a visa to the UK is going to be cut by up to 80,000 a year.

The announcement is part of the government’s drive to scale down immigration to the UK to just tens of thousands by 2015, and is likely to reduce foreign student visas by as much as 25%. Of the proposal, May told MPs:

“It will protect our world-class institutions. It will stop the abuse that became all too common under Labour and it will restore some sanity to our student visa system."

“Fake Colleges”

However, away from these headline grabbing statistics, what do these new regulations actually mean to your standard student hoping to study in the UK?

Well, the proposals are basically aimed at stopping people from manipulating the system in order to simply get a UK visa. At the moment the government say there are thousands of non-EU inhabitants every year who get student visas with no intention of actually studying in the UK.

May says that the new system “will stop the bogus students, studying meaningless courses at fake colleges” through a number of initiatives. Prospective students will have to prove that they are coming to the UK to study rather than work, show they can speak English to a high enough standard and show they have the financial means to support themselves.

Therefore, if you are a non-EU inhabitant hoping to study in the UK, then so long as you are genuine, have the money to live, and can speak English well enough, you should still be able to get a visa. Not so bad after all.

Staying After Your Studies

However, there is one part of the new regulations that may have more of an effect on honest international students. Tougher restrictions are coming in that will make it harder for them to stay in the UK after their course finishes, including a rule that they must get a job with a salary of at least £20,000 a year.

Whilst this by no means stops any international students from staying on in the UK after they graduate, it obviously does make it harder. If this effects you, then make sure you keep up to date with the latest news to find out as the new laws develop.

Share with friends