Student Visa Clampdown Sparks New Fears

The new tougher visa regulations for overseas students were unveiled by the Home Office just this week. The announcement of these new regulations sparked new fears about funding for colleges and universities all over the UK. Thus, now these new regulations are no longer just affecting overseas students but Brits as well.

The new emigration controls are being put in place to help put a cap on the number of scams that are seen involving a surge in applications from older women, many of whom are far past trying to further their education. These women are trying to bring a dependent husband along with them as they come to study in the UK, according to Alan Johnson.

These clampdowns are going to coincide with sharp cuts to university funding. Vice chancellors have already complained about a decision last month to suspend student visa applications from large parts of the Indian subcontinent.

On top of this, a tightening of the point based visa system has also been put in place for international students. The point based visa system, which was introduce only a year ago, imposed new requirements on international students. This included higher visa fees and biometric profiling.

This system has led to a doubling of visa rejections. The rejection rate has jumped from 25 percent to 50 percent. Students have been rejected for a variety of trivial reasons, according to some universities. However, this does not stop the government from continuing to tighten its emigration restrictions.

They are truly hurting the UK education system in the process though. Many of these overseas students bring a lot of money to higher education in the UK. It is likely that they will now take this money to other countries with less harsh emigration rules.