The UK is about to unveil new limitations that would prevent Nigerian students and other nations studying in the UK from travelling with their families in response to the massive number of migrants.
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The crackdown, which will forbid all masters students and many other postgraduates from bringing family members over, will reportedly be unveiled this week, according to a story by The Sun UK.
A Tory lawmaker who spoke to The Sun UK said;
Rishi Sunak is expected to come out fighting on immigration – pointing out they are figures he inherited as they date back to the year ending December 2022 – two months after he became PM.”
There has been an explosion in the number of people coming to Britain piggybacking on their relative’s student visa.
Students brought 135,788 family members to Britain last year – nine times more than in 2019. Last year, 59,053 Nigerian students brought over 60,923 relatives. We have got to get a grip,
However, since PhD programmes typically run between three and five years and require advanced training, these students are exempt from the ban.
Nigerians accounted for the biggest growth in the number of dependents accompanying those on study visas for the year ending in June 2022, according to data acquired from the Home Office last year.
The report further noted that;
In the year ending June 2022, there were 486,868 Sponsored study visas granted (to both main applicants and their dependants), 71% (202,147) more than 2019.
The number of Sponsored study visas granted in the year ending June 2022, is the highest on record in our time series, with the substantial increase representing both a recovery from lower numbers during the Covid-19 pandemic but also an increase on the pre-pandemic period.
There were 117,965 grants to Indian nationals in the year ending June 2022, an increase of 80,569 (+215%) compared to 2019. Chinese nationals were the second most common nationality granted Sponsored study visas in the year ending June 2022, with 115,056 visas granted, 4% lower than the number seen in 2019 (119,825).
In the other top 5 nationalities, Nigerian nationals saw the largest relative increase in Sponsored Study grants compared with 2019, increasing by 57,545 (+686%) to a record high of 65,929, making them the third largest nationality group in the latest year.
