The UK’s Home Office has introduced stringent visa restrictions, barring foreign students from bringing their families into the country.
In a recent announcement posted on X, the Home Office emphasized its commitment to making a substantial reduction in migration.
The statement specified that new international students would no longer have the option to relocate with their families to the UK, excluding postgraduate research students or those on government-funded scholarships from this restriction.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak echoed support for these measures, affirming that his government was actively meeting the needs of the British populace.
These regulations, initially outlined in May by former Foreign Minister Suella Braverman in response to what the Tories deemed an excessively high migration figure of 745,000 people, have now been implemented.
Home Secretary James Cleverly condemned the practice of foreign students bringing their families along, deeming it unreasonable.
He projected a substantial decrease in migration by tens of thousands due to this change, aligning with the overarching strategy aimed at preventing around 300,000 individuals from entering the UK.
Braverman previously highlighted a significant rise in dependants accompanying students, surging from 16,000 in 2019 to 136,000 in 2022, when these measures were first announced in May.
As per Guardian statistics, Nigerian students topped the list in bringing the most dependants to the UK, followed by students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The UK has already heightened salary thresholds to deter worker migration to the country, with expectations of further increases in the near future.
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