UK Visa and Immigration

Immigration minister Damian Green has today announced that too many bogus students are coming to stay in the UK and the abuse must stop.

Speaking at a conference in London, Mr Green focused particularly on the privately-funded further education sector, which is subject to less regulation and more open to abuse.

The national consultation on Tier 4 closed on the 31 January and Mr Green outlined how the agency will use this to further strengthen the student visa system and clamp down on abuses of the student route to the UK.

In a talk today Mr Green defended plans for a crackdown on the student visa system saying that plans to cut the number of non-EU students coming to the UK were vital to stop people using bogus courses as a way into the country.

However student leaders have described the potential Tier 4 crackdown as an “absolute travesty”.

Currently students under Tier 4 may apply for a Tier 1 – Post Study Work Visa once their studies are over but under the new scheme, which will see the Post Study Work route scrapped, tens of thousands of students from outside the EU will be forced to go home after finishing their studies.

Only highly-trusted sponsors will be able to offer courses below degree level to adults, and inspections will be made more rigorous to ensure compliance.

Mr Green said:

‘I believe attracting talented students from abroad is vital to the UK but we must be more selective about who can come here and how long they can stay’.

The 8 week consultation received over 30,000 responses, and sought views on a range of measures to reduce the overall number of students who can come into the UK. Proposals in the consultation included:

• reducing the number of people coming to the UK to study at below degree level;
• introducing a tougher English language requirement;
• ensuring students wishing to extend their studies show evidence of academic progression;
• limiting students’ entitlements to work and their ability to bring in dependants; and
• improving the accreditation process for education providers, alongside more rigorous inspections.

The results of the consultation will be announced in the coming weeks.