Indian students don’t just come to study abroad for a degree. They break generational curses to travel all the way to the UK, many take hefty education loans, sell jewellery, put homes on collaterals and work hard to make up for the EMIs and send some money back home for their families. Cutting down immigration and making rules to stop their dependents from coming with them to the UK is almost inhuman. Maybe the policymakers are not sensitive enough to understand that these students may not have anyone else to take care of their parents, sibling or sole surviving family member. It’s like asking to give up a lifelong bond in order to get a foreign degree that may not even guarantee a job or post-study work opportunities.
On Tuesday, the UK announced a series of measures targeting international students, including restrictions on family members, as the government faces mounting pressure to reduce immigration. Following a decline during the pandemic, net migration has been steadily increasing and is projected to reach a record high this year. According to official figures released last November, net migration was estimated to be slightly over 500,000 by June 2022. Under the new proposals, only students enrolled in postgraduate research programs will be allowed to bring dependents to the UK while studying. Overseas students will be prohibited from switching from the student route to work routes before completing their studies. The government also stated that there would be enhanced enforcement activities and a crackdown on unscrupulous agents exploiting education as a means for immigration purposes. However, UK Deputy Foreign Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad reassured that the recent changes in UK visa rules will not affect Indian undergraduate students. Lord Ahmad emphasised that the UK government recognises the value of Indian students and the new visa rules primarily target students in research and doctoral programs who do not complete their courses.
Speaking to NDTV, Lord Ahmad stated, "Undergraduate and research students will always be welcomed." He further expressed the UK's desire to have more students from India, emphasising that the aim is to curb illegal immigration rather than discourage legitimate students.”
These comments follow UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman's recent statement to the House of Commons, where she announced that international students would no longer be able to bring their family members to the UK, except for those enrolled in research programs. Students pursuing research-led master's courses and PhD programs will still have the option to bring dependents, including children and elderly parents. Braverman also emphasised the government's commitment to cracking down on unscrupulous education agents who facilitate inappropriate applications focused on immigration rather than genuine education opportunities. These rule changes are part of the Rishi Sunak government's efforts to reduce annual net migration and prevent the misuse of student visas as a means to secure employment in the UK.
Braverman asserted that the proposed measures strike the right balance and are expected to lead to a decrease in net migration to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 127,731 (study visa) grants to Indian nationals in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 93,470 (273 per cent) compared to 2019 (34,261). Chinese students were granted 116,476 visas during the period, 2 per cent fewer than the number seen in 2019 (119,231).
Including international students in our net migration figures is wrong and fooling the public
The very accomplished and integral member of the British Asian community in Britain, Lord Bilimoria came to the UK from India to study. He holds a diploma in accounting from the London Metropolitan University. He also read law at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Bilimoria played on the university's polo team, organised their first-ever tour of India, received a Half-Blue in 1988, and led the debating team against Oxford for two years, becoming also the vice-president of the Cambridge Union before graduating in 1988.
On May 25, Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL said in his speech at the UK Parliament, “The Prime Minister has five priorities. One of them is to stop illegal migration through the boats crossing the channel. Everyone agrees that we must do everything we can to stop them. Another of his priorities is to grow the economy. If the Prime Minister wants this, why are we restricting businesses from getting the labour force they need if they cannot get it domestically? I just had a meeting with leading hoteliers. One of them is shortly opening one of the best hotels in London and is targeting under 100% occupancy: he cannot recruit the people he needs. We need to activate the shortage occupation list. That is the promise of the points-based system. That will help. If we exclude international students from net migration figures, we will not scare people with these high figures that are not a true representation of migration into this country.”
Commenting on the ongoing debate at the Parliament on Student Visas, Lord Bilimoria said, “I speak as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Students and the president of UKCISA. Is the Minister aware that we are in a global race for international students? We are against Australia, the United States of America and Canada, in particular, and those countries offer far better postgraduate work opportunities than we do. We offer two years; Australia offers four, five and six years. Why do we keep including international students in our net migration figures? It is wrong and fooling the public. The USA and Australia treat them as temporary migrants, which is what they are. If you exclude international students from the net migration figures, maybe the Government will hit the targets they have wanted to hit for so many years.”
International students should really be taken out of these statistics
NISAU UK Chairperson Sanam Arora told the newsweekly, “International students must urgently be removed from the net migration targets; as is done in other countries. By design they are students, who are here temporarily, therefore it really doesn’t make sense to categorise them as migrants. If we want to reflect a true picture of migration in the country then international students should really be taken out of these statistics. The UK must adopt a stable policy on international students, it’s after a lot of hard work from the whole higher education sector including a 7 year campaign from NISAU that we have managed to secure again our position as one of the most desired countries in the world for the best talent to want to come and study and contribute here. The higher education sector is one of our largest exports, we should be doing everything we can to help it thrive. This includes ensuring the post study work visa remains protected and students be taken out of the net migration stats.”
In a previous interview with Asian Voice, Sanam had also addressed the hiccup that creates trouble for international students who have to wait for a period of time to switch to work visa after their student visa expires. “Where I think we need to make things simpler for students is to be able to educate employers and encourage them to take on more international students through the post-study work visa. We need to make it simpler for them to then switch to another visa type. Similarly, we need to be able to look at employers’ concerns about whether they want to train someone and invest all the training for two years when they're going to go back eventually. What if we were to give a smooth transition to employers to say if you want to retain talent after the expiration of the visa, we as the UK are going to be going to make it easy for you to do so? And that's absolutely something we should do,” Sanam said.
Notable increase in migration from India to Northern Ireland
Post-Brexit rule changes have led to a notable increase in migration from India to Northern Ireland, according to an analysis conducted by economist Mark Magill from Ulster University. With new UK laws making it more challenging for EU nationals to move for low-paid work, the liberalisation of the visa system for high-skilled and medical professionals is attracting more individuals from India and other Asian countries. Magill's analysis of national insurance registrations, a method used to estimate migration flows, reveals that in the 2022/23 period, Indian nationals accounted for the largest share of migrant registrations in Northern Ireland, with 3,732 registrations.
This was followed by individuals from the Republic of Ireland (2,079) and Ukraine (1,569). Magill points out that the past two years have seen more registrations from India than in the previous 15 years combined, indicating a significant shift. The top 10 list of registrations by country in 2022/23 is markedly different from that of 2015/16, where India was the only non-EU country represented with 225 registrations. Currently, the top 10 includes only Ireland and Bulgaria as EU countries. It is worth noting that migration rules for Irish citizens remain unaffected by Brexit due to the longstanding bilateral arrangement between the UK and Ireland known as the Common Travel Area.
Surging immigration contributes to soaring rents across the UK
Meanwhile, the influx of immigrants has resulted in an 8% increase in rents, raising concerns about a potential decline in housing supply due to Michael Gove's proposed reforms. Recent analysis reveals that a substantial number of individuals entering the rental market from abroad have been primarily responsible for the unprecedented growth in rental prices throughout the United Kingdom over the past year.
Costs and benefits of international higher education students to the UK
Yet, international students, including Indians who make up one of the largest cohorts at British universities, bring a net positive economic impact for the UK economy even once other costs are factored in, a new report has found. “International students put nearly 10 times more into the economy than they take out — boosting both local and national economic wellbeing," said Dr Gavan Conlon, Partner at London Economics which had been commissioned to conduct the analysis.
'The costs and benefits of international higher education students to the UK' reveals the total economic benefits from foreign students have risen from £31.3 billion to £41.9 billion between 2018-19 and 2021-22 - marking an increase of 34 per cent.
