Student visa restrictions introduced by Government

New restrictions on student visas have come into effect, limiting the number of international students who can bring their family members to the UK.

The government estimates that new measures mean that 140,000 fewer people will come to the UK.

The restrictions prevent students, except those on postgraduate courses or government-funded scholarships, from being able to bring their family members to the UK with them.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “We have set out a tough plan to rapidly bring numbers down, control our borders and prevent people from manipulating our immigration system, which will come into force this year.”

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that in the year ending September 2023, 152,980 visas were issued to dependents of students.

Cleverly said this is part of a plan to prevent 300,000 people coming to the UK in 2024, compared to last year.

Stephen Kinnock, the shadow minister for immigration, said that this does not go far enough to reduce migration.

He said: “What is clear is that dependents of students are only a fraction of the story.

 “In their 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives acknowledged that the Brexit vote was a bid to take back control of immigration, but since then net migration has skyrocketed from 226,000 to 500,000 which is a record high even if we exclude Ukrainians and Hongkongers The number of work visas has increased by a staggering 95 per cent.”

According to the ONS, net migration was estimated to be at 672,000 between June 2022 and June 2023.

The Government is taking further methods to reduce the number of people coming to the UK.

These measures include making migration agreements with other countries, and a treaty with Rwanda for asylum seekers to be sent there as a ‘safe third country’.