The UK Minister responsible for visas and immigration has encouraged even more students from India to choose the UK as a place to study as we mark International Students Day on 17 November. Kevin Foster MP, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, used the annual celebration of international students to make clear the UK is open to students, highlighting visa flexibility around Covid-19, as well as the new Student Route, as reasons to continue choosing the UK for study.
Last year, over 48,000 students from India were granted a UK student visa – a 121 per cent increase on the previous year. In addition, 99 per cent of Indian students were successful in receiving a student visa.
In addition, the UK’s new Student Route promises to make it even more streamlined and convenient for Indian students, with benefits such as applying up to six months in advance, and additional opportunities to extend student visas from inside the UK.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK was among the first countries to introduce visa flexibility for students, including permitting remote study for the whole 2020-21 academic year and replacing thousands of expired visas free of charge so Indian students could still travel.
Furthermore, in Summer 2021 the UK will be introducing the Graduate Route, a new post-study work visa that will allow eligible students two years (or three years for PHD students) to stay back after they graduate to work, or look for work in the UK.
Kevin Foster MP, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, said: “Indian students have always been a huge part of our community – and we look forward to welcoming more to our world leading Universities. Put simply, we want the best and brightest to study in the UK, which is why we have made it easier to apply.
“The UK will always value and welcome international students, and whether now or in the future, we want Indian students to choose the UK as the place to fulfil their potential.”
The Student Route and Graduate Route are part of the UK’s new points-based system, the new system of visas and immigration that the UK is opening in January 2021. This will create a fairer, clearer system, where what matters is the skills an individual has rather than their nationality.
