E-Paper
Study debunks UK student visa claims
LONDON: The basis of Britain’s crackdown on foreign students in recent years was put into question after a government study described as “secret” reportedly revealed
LONDON: The basis of Britain’s crackdown on foreign students in recent years was put into question after a government study described as “secret” reportedly revealed that the scale of such overstaying students is far lower than previously estimated.
Only 1% of international students – about 1,500 – break the terms of their visa by refusing to leave after their course ends, according to the study, The Times reported on Thursday. The Home Office said it did not recognise the 1% figure.
When she was home secretary, Prime Minister Theresa May had launched a crackdown on international students, including closing the two-year post-study work visa that was popular among self-financing students from India and other non-EU countries. The Times report said the research threatened to undermine May’s case for a crackdown on foreign student recruitment and called into question past estimates that put the figure of overstaying students far higher.
“Official statistics have been used to suggest that tens of thousands of foreign students ‘vanish’ each year after finishing their degrees, but the latest study would suggest that the true figure is 1,500,” it said. “The Home Office, which commissioned the analysis, disputed that it was conclusive and said that the work was ‘not completed’. It has refused to share the study with other Whitehall ministries and rebuffed requests from The Times to release it, including under the Freedom of Information Act”, it added.
An unnamed Whitehall source told the paper the study showed that the proportion of non-EU students at British universities who remained beyond their permitted date was very small.
