Terror fears prompt U.K. to cut number of foreign student visas

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has indicated that the U.K. intends to reduce both the number of visas issued to foreign students and the number of dependents allowed to accompany those students who are granted visas.

The changes confirmed by Mr Johnson are due to be implemented within a matter of weeks and follow a review of the visa system announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the end of last year. A spokesman for the Home Office has indicated that no specific part of the world will see its potential students subjected to closer scrutiny than elsewhere, although the Telegraph states that students from EU countries will not have to comply with the new rules. However only last week individuals from Northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh were, according to AFP, temporarily barred from applying for student visas, primarily it seems because of the large number of applications from those parts of Asia. One of the reasons given by the Independent/Press Association for the revision of the visa rules is the attempted bombing of a plane flying in to Detroit in the U.S. on December 25 2009. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian man arrested for trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit, was an engineering student in London between 2005 and 2008. In terms of the number of people entering the U.K. on student visas, the Telegraph says that in 2008 233,000 such visas were granted, with 140,000 allowed entry as "student visitors". Meanwhile AFP puts the number of visas issued in 2008-09 at 236,470, a number it suggests could now be cut by tens of thousands. The current system used to decide on the granting of a visa, and only in place for a year, requires an applicant to "score" 40 points - 30 of which are awarded for possessing the offer of a place on a course from a college or university and 10 of which are awarded for the applicant being able to prove they can support themselves financially while in the U.K. But critics say suspected terrorists and those seeking entry to work rather than study are coming in to the country. Speaking to the Telegraph over the weekend Mr Johnson, Home Secretary since June 2009, explained:

We created our Points Based System so that we could respond quickly to changing circumstances when necessary to raise the bar students have to meet to come to the UK. We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study – they remain welcome. But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but come primarily to work – they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on those that flout the rules. I make no apologies for strengthening an already robust system

The new rules, supposedly planned for three months and likely to meet some opposition from educational establishments reportedly bringing in £50 million ($78 million) on an annual basis from foreign students, are as follows: - Students must speak English above a level deemed to be that of a beginner by the education system in the U.K. - Students on courses below degree level will only be allowed to work ten hours per week, not the 20 hours permitted at present - Dependents cannot accompany students whose courses are less than six months - Dependents of students on courses below degree level will be unable to work - Students taking courses below degree level must be attending an institution on a newly created Highly Trusted Sponsors List, which will include most publicly funded universities and colleges, if they are to obtain a visa