Migrant graduates will face English tests every year to stay in Britain under UK visa crackdown plans to keep ‘only the best and brightest’ foreign nationals
UK Visa Updates: In an effort to retain “only the best and brightest” foreign citizens, migrant graduates will have to pass English proficiency exams each year in order to remain in the UK.
As part of a new government-approved crackdown, migrant graduates who enter the UK under the contentious Graduate Route will soon have to take annual English proficiency exams.
The standards for the programme that permits international students to work here for two years are scheduled to be approved by the Cabinet.
Universities and colleges with high dropout rates will also be unable to attract international applicants as a result of the regulation.
Additionally, the Home Office will take on recruiting brokers who trick international students into low-paying employment that frequently pay less than the minimum wage in order to divert them from their degrees.
The Sun was informed by government sources that the revised Graduate Route programme would only permit entry into the UK for the “best and brightest.”
The revised plan was unveiled just a few days after it became public that Rishi Sunak, as part of his larger immigration crackdown, intended to prohibit foreign students from enrolling in “low quality” postgraduate courses at British universities.
There has been increasing concern that the courses are being exploited as a backdoor into the UK.
This week’s official statistics are anticipated to demonstrate that, despite a decline from all-time highs, net immigration is still far higher than what the Conservatives promised to cut during the 2019 election.
Some universities are allegedly offering ‘poor quality’ postgraduate courses to international students who are willing to pay for a visa that enables them to work in the UK for at least two years after finishing their studies. This is reportedly worrying Sunak.
Figures from HM Revenue and Customs were cited by government sources, indicating that 41% of individuals working on the graduate visa were making less than £15,000 annually.
However, senior Cabinet ministers would oppose any additional tightening of the regulations, and universities that depend significantly on tuition from international students may push back.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stated on Friday that there was no need to restrict the number of students enrolled further because the current modifications to the immigration laws were already reducing immigration.
“Continue to support sustainable increases in international students coming to the UK,” he declared, was the government’s policy.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has also stated that she will not support efforts to outlaw international students pursuing postgraduate degrees of lesser calibre, stating, “This can’t all be about PPEs from Oxford.”
A report last week from the Migration Advisory Committee, which said there was no proof of “widespread abuse” of the plan, strengthened their case.
All the same, Whitehall insiders revealed that the PM is exploring ways to ‘tighten’ the graduate path, making it exclusive to the ‘brightest and the best’.
Applications have already sharply decreased as a result of reforms implemented earlier this year, such as the prohibition on master’s students bringing family members.
The PM “still thinks there’s further to go,” a No. 10 spokesperson countered, adding, “We are committed to attracting the best and brightest to study at our world-class universities whilst preventing the abuse of our immigration system.”
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