The United Kingdom is set to ban Nigerians and other foreign students from bringing their families to the UK after Nigerians brought almost half the massive dependant population, the Sun UK reports.
It is expected that UK’s Home secretary, Suella Braverman will make the announcement sometime this week.
Currently, international students are allowed to invite unlimited number of family to the UK for the duration of their studies, under the dependent visa.
However last year, students brought over 135,788 students into Britain – nine times more than in 2019, with 59,053 Nigerian students bringing over 60,923 relatives.
Official figures are expected to show that net migration has rocketed to 1 million with Tory MPs asking the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, “to get a grip on the rocketing numbers.”
“There has been an explosion in the number of people coming to Britain piggybacking on their relative’s student visa.”
The crackdown is expected to target masters’ and other postgraduate programs, effectively preventing them from bringing their families along during their studies.
It is believed the restrictions will not apply to PhD students, whose advanced courses typically span between three to five years and are highly skilled.
Rishi Sunak is expected to address these concerns head-on, emphasising that the figures in question are inherited from data reflecting the year ending December 2022, two months after he assumed office. With an increasing number of individuals utilising their relatives’ student visas to gain entry into the UK, the government aims to curtail this trend, which has seen a ninefold rise in the number of family members accompanying students in recent years.
