- The move comes as official statistics are expected to confirm that net migration rose to 700,000 in the year to December 2022
The United Kingdom has put in place a new law that will see Nigerian and other international students studying in the UK from bringing their family as dependents except “under specific circumstances.”
International students will no longer be able to bring dependants with them unless they are on postgraduate courses that are currently designated as research programmes.
The changes will come into effect for students starting their courses from January 2024 in order to allow future international students time to plan ahead.
In a written ministerial statement published today, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said recent immigration figures had shown an “unexpected rise” in the number of dependants coming to the UK alongside international students.
The package will also remove the ability for international students to switch out of the student route and into work routes before their studies have been completed “to prevent misuse of the visa system”, the government said.
As well as removing this right, there will also be a review of the maintenance requirement for students and dependents and a crackdown on “unscrupulous” education agents “who make use of inappropriate applications to sell immigration, not education.”
First published in Sky News