UK immigration has announced another review of the UK Tier 4 student visa scheme. There has been a on third increase in student numbers in the twelve months to March 2010:
* For the period to March 2009 there were 235,295 student visas and 24,780 dependants.
* For the period to March 2010 there were 313,011 student visas and 31,385 dependants. This is an increase of 75,000 compared to the previous year.
Immigration Minister Damian Green had the following to say:
“We are committed to attracting the brightest and the best to the UK, and welcome legitimate students coming here for study. However, in the past there has been significant abuse of the student route, and we need to ensure that every student who comes to the UK is genuine. Therefore I am undertaking a thorough evaluation of the student system over the coming weeks and months and I will introduce new measures to minimize abuse and tighten the system further.”
The current Coalition Government and the previous Labor Government have been concerned that the UK student visa system has been used in some cases by students who are not genuine students. It was because of these concerns that Tier 4 Student visas were suspended for students from Pakistan and Nepal for a time earlier this year.
It seems quite likely that following the review there will be changes in future making it more difficult to come under the tier 4 student visa scheme. If you wish to come to the UK on a tier 4 student visa you should consider applying soon.