This in from Andrew Turner’s office, in their own words. Ed
The Home Secretary, Theresa May has announced that the Government will tackle abuses in the system for student visas and migrant workers.
Speaking to the House on Tuesday, Mrs May described the need to stop the abuses, defend Britain’s world class institutions, and protect real students from poor quality, “bogus” colleges.
Mrs May reassured the House of Commons stating, “The message to the brightest and the best students around the globe is clear – Britain’s world class universities remain open for business.
“Legitimate colleges should still be able to recruit legitimate overseas students. But we need to stop the abuse and return some common sense to our student visa system.”
Previous Government allowed too many here
The Island’s MP Andrew Turner said, “It is clear that the previous Government made a complete mess of the system by allowing too many people to come here, both legal and illegal, and did nothing about it. Now, at last, we are tackling the problems. Many Islanders are concerned about the uncontrolled immigration that is changing the nature of our country. I will keep a very close eye on these promises.”
The main concern still revolves around immigration. The proposals aim to reduce the net migration from hundreds of thousands back down to tens of thousands, drastically cutting the numbers coming to the UK from non-EU countries. The majority of migrants arrive in the UK through the student route.
Abuse will be tackled
The Home Secretary has plans to tackle abuse of the system by non-EU migrants who come to the UK under the pretext of “student” and whose dependents accounted for nearly two thirds of visas issued last year.
The new proposals will:
- Cut the number of visas issued to non-EU students by up to 80,000 each year, nearly 25% of the total
- Target untrustworthy institutions through a proper system of accreditation
- Enforce stricter regulation and caps on student visas.
Entry requirement will also toughen as students must be able to show:
- A high level of proven English language skills
- Financial means to sustain themselves and any dependents
Image: Curtis Palmer under CC BY 2.0
