Indian students’ union urges UK to retain graduate visas

Indian students and alumni in the UK have urged the British prime minister to retain graduate visas, rejecting claims they are little more than “Deliveroo visas” that allow overseas students access to low-paid jobs in the gig economy.

Amid fears that Rishi Sunak is to announce a further crackdown on international students ahead of net migration figures on Thursday, the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) warned against any changes to the scheme

The NISAU chair, Sanam Arora, said the graduate visa route was critical to maintaining the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for international students. “The best will go to where the best offer is, and any worsening of the graduate route will make the UK’s offer significantly worse.”

India sends more students to study in the UK than almost any other country in the world and they account for more than 40% of all graduate visas, which allow overseas students to stay in the UK for two or three years post-graduation for work experience.

“Some find merit in reducing the hard work of young people to ‘Deliveroo visas’,” Arora said. “In actual fact international students and graduates are by and large extremely hard-working young people who have typically invested tens of thousands of pounds into their UK education, alongside their dreams and aspirations for a better future.”

Many take out expensive educational loans to pay for their studies. “It is only reasonable that they would want some return on this very significant investment. And the return they seek is the very simple opportunity to gain meaningful work experience for a temporary period of time.”

The prime minister is facing opposition from cabinet colleagues who fear any moves to restrict the scheme would damage UK universities, which are increasingly dependent on the higher fees that international students pay.

One option under consideration is limiting graduate visas to research-intensive Russell Group universities, while the government is also understood to be looking at reducing the length of the visas.

A letter signed by vice-chancellors at more than 20 universities across the north – many of them non-Russell Group – urged Sunak to accept the findings of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which last week recommended the graduate visa arrangement should be retained in its entirety after a review found no evidence of widespread abuse.

“Universities from Sunderland to Sheffield, Leeds to Lancaster, Liverpool to Teesside, Bradford to Huddersfield, and York to Newcastle will all be harmed by the removal or reduction of the graduate route visa,” the letter states.

“In the north of England, the international student cohort from the first academic year in this decade (2020-21) alone was worth £7.2bn. Universities are now reporting reductions in applications of as much as 80% in some areas and that reduction in income will have a catastrophic impact on the region’s economy.”

A survey of British managers by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found many were worried further curbs on international students would increase existing skills shortages in the UK.

They say the new, higher wage requirement for skilled worker visas – which went up from £26,200 to £38,700 – is already affecting organisations’ capacity to hire international graduates, with KPMG, HSBC and Deloitte recently rescinding job offers to foreign graduates.

Responding to last week’s MAC report, a government spokesperson said: “We are committed to attracting the best and brightest to study at our world-class universities, whilst preventing abuse of our immigration system, which is why the home secretary commissioned an independent review of the graduate route.”