As part of the new student visa rules, the United Kingdom (UK) government has barred foreign students from bringing their family members to the country. The new rules came into force on January 1, 2024. The announcement was made on New Year's Day of 2024. However, postgraduate research and government-funded scholarship students will be exempted from the new changes.
"We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration. From today, new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarship students will be exempt," the UK Home Office said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Reposting the information, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UK was already delivering for British people in 2024. He said, "From today, the majority of foreign university students cannot bring family members to the UK. In 2024, we're already delivering for the British people."
The UK Home Office stated that the changes were intended to reduce the number of dependents accompanying international students who use the student visa as a means to work in the country. As per the modifications initially disclosed by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman in May 2023, the United Kingdom is expected to witness a decrease of approximately 1,40,000 individuals.
"This government is delivering on its commitment to the British public to cut migration. We have set out a tough plan to rapidly bring numbers down, control our borders, and prevent people from manipulating our immigration system, which will come into force throughout this year," Home Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
"The changes will see migration falling rapidly by the tens of thousands and contribute to our overall strategy to prevent 3,00,000 people from coming to the UK," he added. The government will work with universities to design an alternative approach to attract meritorious students to the UK, allowing them to bring dependents to the UK's world-leading universities while continuing to reduce net migration.
The UK Home Office also said that the government would collaborate with universities to devise an alternative strategy allowing meritorious students to bring their dependents, all while mitigating overall migration levels.
"The minimum income requirement for British or settled people sponsoring family members to join them in the UK will also be increased to 38,700 pounds (Rs 40,75,155) by spring 2025, while the Migration Advisory Committee will be commissioned to review the Graduate route to prevent abuse and ensure the integrity and quality of the UK higher education system is maintained," it specified.
