UK Home Secretary, Education Department on collision course over plan to cut Graduate Visa

*Suella Braverman, British Home Secretary, is reportedly on a collision course with the UK Department for Education (DfE) over the former’s plans to limit the period of stay being allowed for overseas students under a post-study visa route

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

United Kingdom (UK) Home Secretary is planning to reform and cut the period of stay allowed for overseas students under a post-study visa route in the country.

ConsumerConnect gathered that a UK Government source, who backs Braverman’s plan Wednesday, January 25, 2023, disclosed the Graduate Visa is being increasingly used by students on short courses at “less respectable universities” in the country.

The new Graduate Visa route, which allows foreign graduates, including Indians, Nigerians, and others across the world the chance to stay on to job hunt and gain work experience for up to two years without the requirement of a specific job offer, is expected to be cut under Braverman’s proposed review.

Braverman’s proposal is reportedly among several drawn up after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak directed the Home Office and the DfE to submit proposals for reducing the number of foreign students coming to the country.

Now, Braverman is said to be on a collision course with the country’s education department over plans to cut the period of stay allowed for overseas students under a post-study visa system.

In regard to the new Graduate Visa route, the Indian-origin Home Secretary has drawn up a plan to “reform” the Graduate Visa route requiring students to obtain a work visa by getting a skilled job, or leave the UK after six months, The Times report said.

The source also referenced leaked advice to note that the UK Department for Education (DfE) is attempting to block the proposed changes as they fear they would harm the UK’s attractiveness to international students.

However, the current Graduate Visa “is being used as a backdoor immigration route,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

Despite this observation in the system, the DfE yet contends that the two-year Graduate Visa, often referred to as the UK’s post-study offer, was aligned with most of Britain’s main competitors, with only the US offering a one-year visa.

Latest statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated the Indians overtook Chinese as the largest cohort of international students 2022, and the new Graduate Visa route, introduced July 2021 was dominated by Indians – accounting for 41 perceent of the visas granted, report said.

Statistics and the dilemma

Recent figures published indicated there were 680,000 foreign students in the UK.

Nonetheless, the British Government’s 2019 Higher Education Strategy had included a target of 600,000 students by 2030, which was met last year itself.

It was learnt that another proposal being considered would reportedly allow foreign students to bring dependent family members with them only if they were on postgraduate research-based courses such as a PhD, or postgraduate courses that were at least two years’ long.

A government Spokesperson said: “Our points-based system is designed to be flexible according to the UK’s needs, including attracting top-class talent from across the world to contribute to the UK’s excellent academic reputation and to help keep our universities competitive on the world stage.

The Spokesperson stated: “We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities.”