United Kingdom to end migration of foreign students' families

Robert Besser
27 May 2023, 04:20 GMT+10

As part of PM Rishi Sunak's measures to bring down annual net migration, international students will be prevented from bringing family members into the country
The interior ministry said the new measures will help reduce migration "substantially" and stop people from using student visas as a backdoor route to find work in Britain
Current rules allow postgraduate students studying courses lasting nine months or longer to bring partners and children to Britain

LONDON, England: As part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's measures to bring down annual net migration, which reached a record last year, international students will be prevented from bringing family members into the country.

The interior ministry said the new measures, which target post-graduate students except those in research programs, will help reduce migration "substantially" and stop people from using student visas as a backdoor route to find work in Britain.

"We have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of student dependents being brought into the country with visas," interior minister Suella Braverman said in a statement.

"This is the fair thing to do, to allow us to better protect our public services, while supporting the economy by allowing the students who contribute the most to keep coming here."

Current rules allow postgraduate students studying courses lasting nine months or longer to bring partners and children to Britain, but the government said the number of dependents had jumped eightfold since 2019, to 136,000 people last year.

Britain will also remove the ability for international students to switch out of the student visa into work visas before their studies have been completed, the interior ministry said.

Student visas accounted for the largest proportion of migration to the UK, with 486,000 issued last year, it added.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to New York Telegraph.

More Information

68 ℉

Fair in New York/Battery

International

Section

Typhoon Mawar strikes Guam, much of island without power, water

GUAM: After Typhoon Mawar brought strong winds and torrential rains, large areas of the US Western Pacific territory of Guam ...

US government, business warned of Chinese spying on infrastructure

NEW YORK CITY, New York: In one of the largest known Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns against American critical infrastructure, a state-sponsored ...

After warnings from EU, ChatGPT said it could leave Europe

SAN FRANCISCO, California: Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has said the company could consider leaving Europe if it could ...

Second Biden nominee for federal judge withdraws before hearings

WASHINGTON D.C.: Reuters has reported that US President Joe Biden's nominee for a federal judge position in Kansas, Jabari Wamble, ...

US seeks answers after six near misses at airports

WASHINGTON D.C.: Jennifer Homendy, head of the US National Transportation Safety Board, has said the US will investigate recent near ...

Florida sued for law saying some foreigners cannot purchase land

MIAMI, Florida: Four Chinese citizens living in Florida have sued the state over a new law barring citizens of China ...

New York

Section