James Cleverly, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, has expressed concerns that foreign students might be utilizing university courses as a cost-effective route to secure work visas.
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In a correspondence to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), Cleverly urged the committee to investigate whether the graduate visa program, allowing foreign graduates to work in the UK for two or three years post-graduation, was attracting the most talented candidates.
Cleverly also added that while the government was committed to attracting “talented students from around the world to study in the UK”, it also wanted “to ensure the graduate route is not being abused. In particular, that some of the demand for study visas is not being driven more by a desire for immigration.”
He said: “An international student can spend relatively little on fees for a one-year course and gain access to two years with no job requirement on the graduate route, followed by four years’ access to a discounted salary threshold on the skilled worker route.
This means international graduates can access the UK labour market with salaries significantly below the requirement imposed on the majority of migrant skilled workers.”
The committee that provides independent advice to the government was given instructions by the home secretary to look into “any evidence of abuse” of the graduate route, including “the route not being fit for purpose,” and to determine which institutions were generating graduates who used this path.
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