Ministers urged to scrap student visa plans
Universities from across Britain have signed an open letter urging the government to scrap plans that prevent international students who are refused visas from appealing.
All 120 members of Universities UK have signed the letter outlining their concerns that measures included in the immigration and asylum bill will damage the competitiveness of Britain’s higher education institutions and their already precarious financial situation.
The bill, which receives its second reading in the House of Commons today, aims to streamline the asylum and immigration system by limiting the right of appeal against visa refusals for students, workers and family visitors.
However, writing in the Financial Times today, Universities UK says the plans are “wholly unjust” and would send “entirely the wrong message to the best and the brightest students around the world whom we should be encouraging to study in the UK”.
The umbrella group points to government figures showing that one in four visa appeals are successful – proof, it says, that the asylum system is “deeply flawed”.
It adds that while it supports the government’s attempts to prevent abuse of the UK immigration system, ministers should be aware of the effect the proposed legislation could have on the “enormous” benefits that international students bring to Britain.
“Talented students from around the world contribute immeasurably to the intellectual vitality of UK higher education and make a critical contribution to our international standing,” said Universities UK president Professor Ivor Crewe.
“Our research community is heavily dependent on the large number of international post graduate research students currently in UK universities, particularly in science subjects.
“International students make an enormous contribution to our economy, and they are also an important funding stream for universities.”
However, Home Office minister Tony McNulty said he was not prepared to reconsider the decision because he believed that “what we are trying to do will work”.
“I do understand not only the importance of overseas students for our university sector, but also the enormous contribution that overseas students make and we are fully alive to that and we’ve done much in that regard across government,” he told the Today programme.
“I think [the vice chancellors] are overreacting to what is a contracting market for any number of reasons above and beyond simply adjustment of visa fees and appeals – the strength of the pound and a whole range of other things.”
He said that less than two per cent of those who applied for student visas were successful in their appeal attempts, adding: “Its incumbent on us to try to streamline that decision-making process and make it all the better and that’s what we want to do
