The UK government has announced a new immigration policy that will prevent foreign postgraduate students on non-research courses from bringing family members to the UK on their visas, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said on Tuesday.
The move is expected to significantly affect Nigerian postgraduate students, who are among the top five nationalities granted sponsored study visas to the European country.
"This package includes... removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes," Braverman said. "This package strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK."
According to statistics, Nigerian nationals saw the second-largest percentage increase in the number of visas granted in 2022, rising from 6,798 in 2019 to 59,053. In addition, 135,788 visas were granted to dependents of foreign students last year, with Nigerian-sponsored study visa holders in the UK having the highest number of dependents at 60,923, an increase of 1,586 in three years.
The new measure, which will take effect from January 2024, comes a few days before official statistics are expected to show that legal migration in the UK has hit a record 700,000 this year, according to local media. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the cabinet last week that the new measure would help reduce migration and make a "significant difference to the numbers."
Under the new rules, spouses and children of postgraduate overseas students on non-research courses will no longer be able to apply for visas to live in the UK during their studies. Currently, students coming to the United Kingdom on a visa are required to provide evidence of their relationship to their dependents, who must pay £490 (about $607) for a visa and an annual contribution of between £470 ($582) and £624 ($773) towards the UK's National Health Service (NHS).
Prime Minister Sunak's Conservative Party had previously pledged to keep net migration below 100,000 a year, but abandoned the goal ahead of the 2019 election after repeatedly failing to meet the target.
Net migration to the UK reached a record high of 504,000 in the year to June 2022, according to government data. British media reported that the numbers for the current year, which are set to be released this week, are expected to increase to between 700,000 and one million.