Advisory panel recommends review of UK student visa policy
December 04 2009 by Liam Clifford
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended that the UK immigration department review aspects of the UK student visa policy.
The MAC is
particularly concerned about the fact that students can obtain a two-year visa
to continue to live in the UK after they have completed a higher education
course. The MAC says that these two-year UK visas are awarded without regard for
the quality of the course attended.
The rules are part of the new UK
points-based system and are intended to help encourage skilled people from
abroad to live and work in the UK after study.
Phil Woolas, the UK
immigration minister, says, "The points-based system is a powerful and flexible
tool which means that businesses can recruit the skilled foreign workers that
the economy needs, but not at the expense of British workers, nor as a cheaper
alternative to investing in the skills of the existing
workforce."
However, the MAC is concerned that 599 of the educational
institutions that offered degrees to foreign students last year were not
“proper” universities. MAC head David Metcalfe said, "What we think, without
being overly elitist, is that we should have a good look at these institutions
to see if it is legitimate for all the students studying there on all the
courses to get post-study work visas."
Colleges in Cambridge and Oxford have already raised concerns that they will see their businesses deteriorate if UK immigration controls become to stringent for students.
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