UK visa: International students not allowed to bring family anymore. Read new rules
1 min read 24 May 2023, 07:09 PM ISTThe move is seen as an attempt by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman to control the rate of migration into the country
PremiumAmid record numbers of migrations, the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office announced new immigration rules for international students disallowing them to bring their family members with them to the country. The release from the Home Office said that all those international students enrolled in non-research post-graduation courses will not be allowed to bring their family members or other dependents to the UK.
The move is seen as an attempt by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman to control the rate of migration into the country. The new rules came into effect days before the UK Home Office is scheduled to release the statistics on migration and the number of migrants in 2022-23 is expected at a whopping 7,00,000.
“This package includes: removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programs," Braverman’s statement notes.
No switching from student to work route
UK government is also considering removing the ability for international students to switch out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed. The new measures may also add a provision to review the maintenance requirement of students and their dependents.
"The terms of the graduate route remain unchanged... We are committed to attracting the brightest and the best to the UK. Therefore, our intention is to work with universities over the course of the next year to design an alternative approach that ensures that the best and the brightest students can bring dependents to our world-leading universities while continuing to reduce net migration," Braverman said.
Will not affect the majority of students
“While the vast majority of students will be unaffected by proposals that limit the ability to be accompanied by dependants, more information is needed on the programs that are in scope before a proper assessment of the impact can be made," said Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of Universities UK International (UUKi) – the representative body for 140 UK universities.
“Yet we do know that any changes are likely to have a disproportionate impact on women and students from certain countries. We, therefore, urge the government to work with the sector to limit and monitor the impact on particular groups of students – and on universities, which are already under serious financial pressures," he said.
