UK to soon disallow international students to bring dependants along

The UK government has come down heavily on international students as it has announced a new immigration rule. This new rule will disallow international students from bringing their family members into the country.

According to media reports, a release from the Home Office said that all those international students who are enrolled in non-research post-graduation courses will not be allowed to bring their family members or other dependents to the UK.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman's statement said, "This package includes: removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes."

The move comes ahead of the official data, which is expected to show that legal migration has hit a record high of 700,000 this year. It is seen as an attempt to control the rate of migration into the country by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The change is expected to show a significant difference in the numbers once it kicks in from January 2024, Rishi Sunak told his cabinet. 

According to a BBC report, in 2022, 135,788 visas were granted to dependants of foreign students, nearly nine times the 2019 data.

The government is also considering removing the ability of international students to switch out of their student routes into work routes before they have completed their studies. The new measures may also add a provision to review the maintenance requirement of students and their dependants, the report said. 

The report citing Braverman's statement states, "The terms of the graduate route remain unchanged... We are committed to attracting the brightest and the best to the UK. Therefore, our intention is to work with universities over the course of the next year to design an alternative approach that ensures that the best and the brightest students can bring dependents to our world-leading universities while continuing to reduce net migration."