UK Universities Will Lose Annual Revenue of £5-7M

United Kingdom (UK) universities will lose from £5 to £7 million in revenues per year because of reduced enrollment of  international students triggered by harsh visa rules. Foreign students including the European Union students contribute £8 billions annually to the British economy.

British government’s anti-immigration laws especially the termination of Tire 1 visa has made most of the foreign students enrolled in the British universities or seeking to get admitted are forced to reconsider their future education and career plans. Study has been the major reason for foreigners to migrate to UK according to a recent report.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron-led British government has approved a number of legislation, focused to provide more teeth to visa process and achieve net influx of less than 100,000 migrants per year.

The abolition of Tier 1 post-study work visa for the overseas students is one of those. This brand of visa is not available to international students making it impossible to pursue their professional careers in UK after completing their study programmes.

International students are now barred to bring their dependants with them, provided they are enrolled in a 12 months long postgraduate course.

International students facing limited number of employment possibilities after graduation are now mulling over studying in countries like Canada, Australia, and United States of America offering ample work opportunities to supplement the educational programmes.

Australia Immigration is launching a new post-study work visa in 2013 enabling a foreign student after completing a two year education programme in an Australian university to obtain a two year work permit.

Immigration Australia has relaxed the part time work rules allowing the international students to earn some money to partially meet their expenses.

Canada offers international students employment options after graduating by granting post-graduation work permits. The foreign graduate students also can benefit from a number of Canadian permanent residency programmes such as Canadian Experience Class.

UK universities will continue to see reduction in international students and, hence, a substantial loss in revenue and jobs, if British government does not water down the exiting immigration laws.

Tags: Canada, England, Foreign Students, Immigration, international student, Post-graudation work permit, Study in Canada, Study in England, Study visa, work permit