New overseas student visa rules increase funding concern for UK colleges, universities
by Mary Jones - February 11, 2010
United Kingdom, February 11: The new visa regulations by the Home Office warn of funding restrictions for UK universities and colleges.
The latest changes announced in the UK immigration policies are stated to put a curb on the rising scam in the UK immigration. It was found that an increasingly large number of women applicants, particularly, the older females, were involved in such student visa scams as they found a convenient means to sneak into the country so as to bring their dependent spouses into Britain, alleged Alan Johnson, the home secretary of the UK.
However the brunt of this clampdown on student visa scam will be felt by the UK colleges and universities since funding to such educational institutes will be restricted severely, the home official had warned yesterday.
It has already starting taking a toil on the declining enrolments in the universities since the student visa regulations were tightened last month for countries including India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The university authorities argue that the number of applicants from India seeking admissions in the institutes has gone down drastically in such a short span of time.
The restrictions introduced in the PBS (Points-based System) for overseas students have shunted thousands of aspirant applicants out of the eligibility criteria for UK student visa. Hence, the number of UK student visa rejections has almost doubled from 25 percent to 50 percent, argues a report by the Manifesto Club, a civil liberties group.
As per the new rules of PBS, the overseas students wanting to apply for UK student visa were required to pay increased visa fee, higher savings in their bank accounts and a rigorous biometric profiling.
The international education sector is of significant importance for the economy of the UK since each overseas student from outside the EU (European Union) contributes nearly £120,000 to country’s economy, says Study Group, which is involved in managing colleges in the UK.
Also, these international students enrich the culture of the country and help nurture bilateral relations of Britain with other nations.
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