The Home Secretary is considering a hard-line
policy that would have a tremendous effect on non-European students in the UK.
The proposal under consideration which the Home
Secretary is said to be planning to have included in the next Conservative
manifesto could force non-European students to return home after successfully
completing their studies before they will be eligible to apply for work visa to
live and work in the UK.
According to a report on the MSN Home Page credited
to the Press Association, The policy being considered is likely to include
provisions to make educational establishments that sponsor foreign students
responsible for ensuring that students leave the UK after their studies. The
policy is also said to include penalties for educational establishments with
low departure rates ranging from fines to a possible loss of their licence to
sponsor foreign students from outside the EU.
This new policy, if it comes into effect, will
alter the current Immigration Rule which allows most eligible students to
switch into a work visa from within the UK.
The
implication of this new policy (if and when it comes into effect) on foreign
students, educational establishments and its impact on the UK economy can only
be imagined.
