From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
In a bid to curb the growing numbers of migrants into the United Kingdom, new rules have been rolled out with regard to overseas students from Nigeria and other countries who bring their families to the United Kingdom.
The new policy by the United Kingdom will commence in January 2024.
The United Kingdom Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, rolled out the new restrictions on international students in the United Kingdom yesterday.
Braverman, on Tuesday, proposed to the United Kingdom Parliament that foreign students will no longer study in the country alongside their families, except those under specific circumstances.
The United Kingdom minister further said only foreign students who are on courses designated as research programmes will be qualified to bring their dependants to the United Kingdom.
The new policy which was made available in a written ministerial statement, will see the Government of the United Kingdom remove the ability for international students to switch out of the student route and into work routes before the completion of their studies.
The policy will equally bring about a review of the maintenance requirement for students and dependants, and a crackdown on illegal education providers who engage in underhand dealings with regard to inappropriate applications to sell immigration, instead of education.
According to Braverman, “The immigration statistics also highlighted an unexpected rise in the number of dependants coming to the UK alongside international students. About 136,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending December 2022, a more than eightfold increase from 16,000 in 2019, when the government’s commitment to lower net migration was made.”