Brexit & Stringent UK Visa Laws Take Its Toll: Figure of Indian Students in Britain Drops in 5 Years
As per the December 2017 statistics for international students report, by the UK Council for International Student Affairs, the number of the students from India to the country headed north by an enormous 44% in the previous five years.
Notwithstanding a 10% rise in the figure of the visas doled-out to the students from India in the year ending September 2017 from a year before, the declining figures is still resulting in anxiety. The increase in 2017 to 14,081 was reportedly the first time the numbers jumped since 2010, when 60,000 students from India received visas.
There was a time when the students from India moved, in large numbers, to the destination, but the Brexit scar against immigrants has, allegedly, weakened the drift in favor of Canada and some other nations.
Stringent student immigration laws since 2011 have resulted in many Indian students exploring other overseas hotspots for advanced education even as the prevailing political vagueness involving Brexit allegedly strengthens the feeling.
In a related development, a concerned person reportedly said that the latest numbers from the Home Office show that in 2017 roughly 16,000 Indian students were enrolled for the various study courses in Britain when during the similar time-frame in Canada 1, 00,000 Indian students were studying. He added that in case the UK exits the EU and discusses a new trade accord with India, the overseas movement of individuals and immigration subjects would play a vital part.
He further said that no trade deal between New Delhi and London would fructify in case the crucial subject migration, particularly of the students, does not get duly addressed.
Echoing a somewhat similar feeling, another concerned person was quoted as saying that the key subject associated with Brexit is that one is finding it pretty difficult to get much movement on a positive outcome related to the Post-study Work Visa given the focus of the UK is exclusively on Brexit. She, allegedly, believes that London would do well to make a Special Post-study Work Visa for the Indian community and exhibit the will to improve ties with New Delhi in advance of Brexit.
It is claimed that at present, the students from India switching to Work Visas necessitate the recruiters/firms to figure out the immigration laws. It is not easy for the Indian students to obtain jobs in Britain and move to Work Visas from Student Visas. Frequently, there is not any distinction whatsoever by the recruiters/firms between an international student with leave to remain and no resident labour market test to undergo, against any other international candidate.
Reportedly, however, in the middle of the despair for the Indian students, the positive news is the proclamation of a fairly smoother change to the Tier-2 Work Visas from the Tier-4 Student Visas. Now the students will be presented with a longer job-search time even as they will not be required to cool their heels for their thesis to be marked or degree to be given, prior to embarking on their Work Visa application journey.