Robert Besser
27 May 2023, 04:20 GMT+10
LONDON, England: As part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's measures to bring down annual net migration, which reached a record last year, international students will be prevented from bringing family members into the country.
The interior ministry said the new measures, which target post-graduate students except those in research programs, will help reduce migration "substantially" and stop people from using student visas as a backdoor route to find work in Britain.
"We have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of student dependents being brought into the country with visas," interior minister Suella Braverman said in a statement.
"This is the fair thing to do, to allow us to better protect our public services, while supporting the economy by allowing the students who contribute the most to keep coming here."
Current rules allow postgraduate students studying courses lasting nine months or longer to bring partners and children to Britain, but the government said the number of dependents had jumped eightfold since 2019, to 136,000 people last year.
Britain will also remove the ability for international students to switch out of the student visa into work visas before their studies have been completed, the interior ministry said.
Student visas accounted for the largest proportion of migration to the UK, with 486,000 issued last year, it added.
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationHONG KONG: The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued a request to all foreign consulates in Hong Kong, seeking the personal ...
MARTIN COUNTY, Florida: An Amazon driver making a delivery to a Florida home this week was bitten by a rattlesnake ...
CALGARY, Canada: From early 2024, the long-delayed and controversial Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion (TMX) is expected to ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan's Supreme Court proceedings were broadcast live on state television on Monday, providing an unprecedented glimpse into the ...
MORGANTOWN, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania state police said that nine teenage boys who escaped from the Abraxas Academy detention center this week ...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Anchorage is struggling to find housing options for more than 3,000 homeless residents, as the city's mass shelter ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Md Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, has stated that the European Union's decision not to ...
DUBLIN, Europe: Trinity College Dublin has secured its position among Europe's top academic institutions, clinching the 31st spot in the ...
ANKARA, Turkey: During a meeting, Michael Evans, President of the Alibaba Group, told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that the Chinese ...
WARSAW, Poland: As part of European Union (EU) sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Poland banned all ...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Days before the Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, is expected to again raise interest rates, the Swedish krona hit ...
BORDEAUX, France: Some Ireland rugby fans were among the 25 people hospitalized after a botulism outbreak in Tchin Tchin Wine ...