International students are important to this country as they boost the UK economy by £12.5 billion a year, according to the British Council.
The proposals would:
• Restrict the number of institutions that can offer access courses below degree level – many international students use this as a way of gaining the skills needed to study at a UK institution;
• Raise the English level requirement for non-native English speakers;
• Close the Tier 1 post study work route; Remove access to a post-study work visa
• Limit the entitlement of students to work and sponsor dependents.
All these measures would dramatically decrease the number of international students coming to the UK and prevent many from making a great contribution to this country.
Around 46 per cent of international students come through some kind of sub-degree preparation course. StudyGroup estimates that 20,000 people who work at institutions offering access to higher education courses for international students could lose their job as a result of the proposed changes.
How can you help?
1. Please respond to the UKBA consultation on the UK Student Immigration System here.
NUS has prepared a template to support your consultation response. This template is designed to be a reference to assist with your submission to this consultation, not to shape your views or determine how you choose to make your response to UKBA. Download it here.
The deadline is 31 January, every response counts.
2. Write to your MP to make the case against the changes.
3. Please ask all the international students you know to complete the NUS post-study work visa survey. This campaign will give us the evidence we need to build a strong campaign, so please get all the responses you can.
4. Sign the petition here.
5. To sign up for immigration updates from the international students’ campaign please contact Christina.Zhang@nus.org.uk