UK Lawmaker Chides Govt Over New Immigration Policy, Says Economy Will Suffer

…recalls how foreign students, Families contributed £40 billion to country’s economy in 2022

Backlash has been the order of the day for the United Kingdom Government over the new immigration policy that restricts foreign students from bringing their families and dependants into the country from 2024.

The policy, according to UK Home Office, also prohibits foreign students in the country from switching from the student visa route to a work visa until their studies have been completed.

The latest of this backlash came from a member of the UK Parliament, Carol Monaghan, who questioned if the Minister considered the economic implication of the policy.

In her reaction on Wednesday, Monaghan said the students and their families made valuable contributions to the UK, contributing £40 billion to the economy in 2022.

The UK lawmaker explained that international students enrich the UK society by way of their skills which have proved useful across key sectors.

Her words, “With labour shortages in healthcare, STEM, IT, to name a few, how can the minister fail to recognise that this policy will aggravate these? I’d like to ask the minister, what assessments have been carried out on the economic impact of this change on the university sector?

“The reality is that many students who come into the UK look beyond their studies and want their families to be part of their experience.

“Without a way for overseas students to bring their families, many will opt to go elsewhere and any drop in international students numbers will cause further harm to universities that are already facing financial difficulties.”

Also, the UK universities kicked against the country’s new immigration rules.

The Universities UK International (UUK), a body of universities, had said the move was a threat to the country’s global success as a top destination for international talent.

The Director, UUK, Jamie Arrowsmith said, “International students make an invaluable contribution to our universities and to the UK’s economy. Building on the government’s explicit commitments and ambitions, which were clearly set out in the international education strategy, we have seen significant growth since 2019.”

Although, while rationalizing the policy, the UK government explained that it became important to stem the tide of immigration in the country which has now exceeded one million.