Suella Braverman, home secretary of Britain has conflicting views with respect to the department of education on the time of post-study student visa. According to the report on Wednesday, the home secretary is planning to cut the duration of stay for international students after completing their graduation.
Braverman has proposed a reform in the existing policy on the duration of students’ stay in the country post-study. As per the Graduate Visa route, international graduates have a chance to stay in the UK for two years. During this duration, students can search for a job and stay without a particular job offer letter. Further, the government has supported the view of Braverman by highlighting the concern of visa misuse. The Graduate Visa route is “being used as a backdoor immigration route” by the students.
The universities and the department for education (DfE) are opposing the policy as they are afraid of losing the charm among foreign students. The DfE further argues that the two-year graduate visa is an opportunity for the country to stay aligned with the policy of other countries, except the USA.
As per the latest report by Office for National Statistics (ONS), there is a hike in the number of Indian immigrants compared to Chinese. Indian students are in a dominant position who were granted visas last year accounting for 41%.
The Prime Minister asked Braverman and DfE to submit their view with justified reasons. After reviewing the situation, the UK Home Office didn’t comment on the leak. But, according to spokesperson of the government, “Our points-based system is designed to be flexible according to the UK’s needs, including attracting top-class talent from across the world.”
