The Ministry of Education is trying to block this change, saying it would harm the attractiveness of British universities to students from abroad.
London, Thanasis Gavos
The reaction of the Ministry of Education in Britain is caused by a proposal by the immigration minister of the interior to reduce the period of time during which foreign students can stay in the country after completing their studies.
As part of the immigrant visa reform plan for graduates, the minister Suella Braverman is reported to be proposing to reduce the right of graduates to remain on UK soil without having found work from two years to six months.
In this semester foreign graduates will have to obtain a work visa by finding a highly skilled position in the labor market, as stipulated by the rules for other immigrants, otherwise they will have to leave the country.
But as the Times reveals, a leaked advisory report reveals how the Ministry of Education is trying to block this change, raising the question of a blow to the attractiveness of British universities to students from abroad.
The decision-makers in this ministry indicate that most of the UK’s competing countries offer a two-year stay to graduates, with the exception of the one-year visa offered by USA.
On the other hand, the Ministry of the Interior responds that the two-year visa is “used as a back door for immigration” with many foreign students enrolling for this purpose in short courses “at less respectable universities”.
Figures from last week show that in British universities 680,000 foreign students attend. The target set by the government in 2019 referred to 600,000 students from abroad by 2030.
The Interior Minister’s proposal is part of the measures presented to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who from the beginning made reducing the influx of migrants one of his goals.
Figures from November showed that the net number of migrants who came to the UK in the previous year was 504,000, a figure largely driven by a 76% increase in international students in the twelve months to September 2022 compared to previous corresponding period.
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