We are relieved that the Government is no longer planning on scrapping the Graduate Visa Scheme (GVS). This means that international students will still be able to remain in the UK two years after the completion of their studies (three years for PHD students).
However, this is not a cause for celebration. We have heard from members of our Network that the GVS is restrictive. The visa costs £822 to apply and migrants also have to pay the healthcare surcharge on top of this, which is about £1,035 per year. Migrants on the scheme have struggled to secure employment, because employers do not want to only hire someone for two years, especially if they are unable to sponsor someone after that period elapses. There is also evidence that employers do not understand the GVS. Only 3% of employers relied on this visa route to recruit staff, 27% of employers hadn’t heard of it, and 20% identified the level of bureaucracy involved in employing sponsored staff.
The Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) review of the Graduate Visa also found evidence of exploitation of international students by recruitment agents, who we know are illegally charging students thousands of pounds and misleading them on life in the UK.
We are also concerned by the reasons behind the Government’s U-turn: the suspected reason for this U-turn was the argument that scrapping the GVS would have had a detrimental impact on the economy and on funding for British universities. This is because of the “contribution” that international students make to universities through extortionate tuition fees, and the fact that they subsidise domestic students’ studies and research activities. It is dehumanising to reduce the right of international students to remain in the UK to a condition based on their finances.
We remain worried that other anti-migrant measures will still be going ahead, such as a clampdown on dependents, and an increase in the minimum salary threshold for visas. It is also odd that the Government is considering requiring international students to pass a mandatory English test to be eligible for the GVS, as most international students are already required to do so for their studies in the UK. This would be wholly unnecessary and an additional expense to international students. We urge the Government to listen to the concerns of students on the GVS, and to commit to measures that protect and affirm the dignity of all migrants, including international students, in the UK.