Home Secretary, Suella Braverman officially announced to tighten rules around international students – they can no longer bring family.
The news which came in Tuesday states that students can only bring family under specific circumstances or in designated courses such as research programmes – PhD or research-led masters courses.
The new rule is being brought in, in a bid to reduce immigration numbers which saw the number of visas given to people from Nigeria increase from 14,044 in 2019 to 158,451 in 2022.
Nigerians accounted for the most amount of dependents, followed by Indians who had an overall jump of visa issued rise from 95,138 in 2018 to 327, 885 in 2022.
University chiefs and lecturers’ union said they were “deeply shameful” and anti-migrant, while saying it would disproportionately affect women and people from certain countries.
A statement read out said; “The Home Office decision to prevent international applicants to one-year Master’s courses in the UK from bringing dependants with them represents a blow to equality and inclusion, and a loss in competitiveness against our counterparts in Europe, North America and Australasia who continue to welcome these students and their families with open arms.
“Preventing international postgraduate students from bringing their families with them will likely lower this figure and undo the honourable ambitions set out by the Government in its own International Education Strategy.
“London’s appeal to international students is as yet unrivalled and acts as a gateway for international talent across the UK.
The ban is set to be enforced from January 2024.
