New rules for students will welcome the most talented, says Immigration Minister

Posted: 14/02/2012

New rules to cut abuse in the student immigration system and ensure only the most talented students can remain in the UK for employment will come into force within weeks.

Speaking on Monday, the Immigration Minister, Damian Green, announced the latest changes to the student visa route which will take effect from 6 April 2012. He commented: "It is vital that we continue to attract the brightest and the best international students, but we have to be more selective about who can come here and how long they stay."

Some of the key changes for international students are listed below:

• tier 1 (post study work) will close to new applicants on 5 April 2012. New provisions under tier 2 (general) for graduates will be introduced. Only those students who have recently graduated from university with a bachelor's or master's degree, PhD, or a PGCE or PGDE from a recognised or listed body and have an offer of skilled work at a salary of £20,000 (or more in some cases) will be able to continue to live and work in the UK. The job offer must come from an employer holding a UKBA sponsor licence;
• maintenance requirements for students, working migrants and their dependants will be increased for the first time since 2008. Individuals must be able to prove they can support themselves financially during their time in the UK;
• work placements for international students who are studying below degree level will be restricted to a maximum of one third of the course;
• the time that students can remain in the UK to study under tier 4 at degree level will be restricted to a general limit of five years. This is in addition to the existing requirement of students having a maximum stay of three years in the tier 4 category if they are studying below degree level. There are exceptions to the new rule which include those studying medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, architecture, law and music at a conservatoire;
• a new graduate entrepreneur route will be introduced for those individuals who worked on innovative business ideas during their studies and wish to stay in the UK and develop them. Up to 1,000 places will be made available in this category across all higher educational institutions (HEI) participating in this scheme. The UKBA will be releasing further details of the application process for HEIs in due course. 

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