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</td></tr> <tr> <td class="msgtxt"> Sep 7, 2010
Britain's student visa system faces shake-up
Smarter immigration controls to ensure only 'brightest and best' enter to study and work
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LONDON: Britain is calling for tougher rules for non-European Union students seeking to enrol in courses, after research released yesterday found a fifth were still in the country five years after being granted visas.
Immigration Minister Damian Green, who described the number of foreign students being let into the country as 'unsustainable', is expected to outline 'smarter' immigration controls in a speech early today (Singapore time), according to extracts pre-released by the Home Office.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party has promised to cut net immigration from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands annually. Shortly after taking power in May as head of a coalition government, Mr Cameron introduced an annual cap on the number of economic migrants from outside the European Union.
Mr Green told BBC Radio that the government had inherited an immigration system which was 'largely out of control'.
In his speech, he would outline plans for new measures that ensure only the 'brightest and best' migrants enter the country to study and work.
Mr Green is expected to say Britain needs 'smarter immigration controls - controls which bear down on the numbers coming and welcome those we really need here', according to the speech extracts.
'We cannot assume that everyone coming here has skills that the UK workforce cannot offer and we will not make Britain prosperous in the long term by telling our own workers not to bother to learn new skills as we can bring them all in from overseas.'
The stricter controls are part of a strategy to slash net immigration figures which ballooned under Labour.
The research released by the Home Office yesterday tracked the paths of migrants who came to Britain in 2004. The largest group given visas in that year was made up of foreign students. Of the 186,000 granted, more than a fifth were still residing in the country five years later. Officials fear many may be working illegally.
The number of visas being issued to students and their dependants had risen to over 300,000 by this year, the figures showed.
Government ministers also intend to scrutinise work visas. Some 106,000 work visas were issued in 2004, and two-fifths of this group were still living in the country last year.
A Home Office spokesman said the thrust of the reform focuses on how people entering the country manage to switch easily from temporary residency to permanent citizenship.
The government is expected to scrutinise all routes into Britain, after official figures showed only around half of student visas issued were for university courses.
'I don't want to interfere with the success stories of our universities,' Mr Green told BBC Radio.
But he said there was a need to examine closely sub-degree courses and the reasons for students remaining in the country.
The National Union of Students, however, dismissed Mr Green's comments as a 'politically motivated misinterpretation' of the facts.
Ms Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, told the BBC: 'Populist policies on immigration might play well domestically, but on the global stage we risk looking foolish.'
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr> <tr> <td class="msgtxt"> Sep 7, 2010
Britain's student visa system faces shake-up
Smarter immigration controls to ensure only 'brightest and best' enter to study and work
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> http://www.straitstimes.com/World/Story/STIStory_575634.html
LONDON: Britain is calling for tougher rules for non-European Union students seeking to enrol in courses, after research released yesterday found a fifth were still in the country five years after being granted visas.
Immigration Minister Damian Green, who described the number of foreign students being let into the country as 'unsustainable', is expected to outline 'smarter' immigration controls in a speech early today (Singapore time), according to extracts pre-released by the Home Office.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party has promised to cut net immigration from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands annually. Shortly after taking power in May as head of a coalition government, Mr Cameron introduced an annual cap on the number of economic migrants from outside the European Union.
Mr Green told BBC Radio that the government had inherited an immigration system which was 'largely out of control'.
In his speech, he would outline plans for new measures that ensure only the 'brightest and best' migrants enter the country to study and work.
Mr Green is expected to say Britain needs 'smarter immigration controls - controls which bear down on the numbers coming and welcome those we really need here', according to the speech extracts.
'We cannot assume that everyone coming here has skills that the UK workforce cannot offer and we will not make Britain prosperous in the long term by telling our own workers not to bother to learn new skills as we can bring them all in from overseas.'
The stricter controls are part of a strategy to slash net immigration figures which ballooned under Labour.
The research released by the Home Office yesterday tracked the paths of migrants who came to Britain in 2004. The largest group given visas in that year was made up of foreign students. Of the 186,000 granted, more than a fifth were still residing in the country five years later. Officials fear many may be working illegally.
The number of visas being issued to students and their dependants had risen to over 300,000 by this year, the figures showed.
Government ministers also intend to scrutinise work visas. Some 106,000 work visas were issued in 2004, and two-fifths of this group were still living in the country last year.
A Home Office spokesman said the thrust of the reform focuses on how people entering the country manage to switch easily from temporary residency to permanent citizenship.
The government is expected to scrutinise all routes into Britain, after official figures showed only around half of student visas issued were for university courses.
'I don't want to interfere with the success stories of our universities,' Mr Green told BBC Radio.
But he said there was a need to examine closely sub-degree courses and the reasons for students remaining in the country.
The National Union of Students, however, dismissed Mr Green's comments as a 'politically motivated misinterpretation' of the facts.
Ms Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, told the BBC: 'Populist policies on immigration might play well domestically, but on the global stage we risk looking foolish.'
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