'New UK visa rules won't hit Indians'

Indian students seeking to study in the UK will largely not be affected by the changes in the student visa rules, said Peter Beckingham, British deputy high commissioner, at an event in the city on Monday.

Indian students seeking to study in the UK will largely not be affected by the changes in the student visa rules, said Peter Beckingham, British deputy high commissioner, at an event in the city on Monday.

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The new rules, announced earlier in the year, include denying student visas for admission offers from certain UK institutions and eliminating the option of the two-year post-study work visa from April 2012.

"There has been a decline in the number of students going from India to the UK because the government has deemed some universities as not appropriate," said Beckingham. "The actual number of students going to recognised universities, however, has gone up."

A delegation from Imperial College in London was in Mumbai on Monday as part of a tour to explore research partnerships with Indian institutions as well as announce new scholarships.

"I don't think the situation is at all in any way severe. Things are moving in the right direction," said Sir Keith O'Nions, the university's rector. He pointed out that students would be able to apply for a new kind of post-study work visa called the "enterprise visa".

"(We are) trying to fill in the gap existing in India's higher education, especially PhD programmes," said O'Nions. He added, in light of the Foreign Universities Bill, "We are not planning to set up a campus in India, as we do not have that capacity."