UK Warmly Invites Overseas Graduates and Extends Work Visas for Two Years

The restrictive immigration policies of the UK appear to be over as it has decided to offer a work visa for two years after graduation from a British university to the overseas students. 

Presently, the duration for graduates having the bachelors/master’s degrees for working is only four months. From 2020 all global graduates will qualify for work lasting two years. This will also increase their chances to find long-term employment after completing the studies.

This measure goes a step further than the recent immigration white paper issued by Home Office that proposed extension of the four months to six months and for the doctorates to twelve months.

It appears like a return to the UK policy scrapped by the government in 2012. This was a leading factor in the slump in the enrolments of international student. Jo Johnson, the Universities Minister, who resigned, had campaigned for extension in April by tabling an amendment in the Immigration Bill seeking the two year work visas.

The new policy, entails that there will be no cap on number of visas allowing graduates to seek jobs not considering their skills or the subject of studies. The government has an aim to recruit gifted graduates in the disciplines of mathematics, engineering and technology. The international students tend to make an important contribution for the country as well the universities culturally and economically. Their presence brings a series of benefits to Britain.

The universities moreover, thrive on remaining open as global institutions and after the introduction of the graduate route the higher education sector can attract the finest global talent to Britain. The announcement was welcomed by Universities UK, representing 130 institutions. In the past the visa regime made the UK suffer the competitive disadvantage for recruiting students internationally.

The two-year post-study work visa was campaigned by Universities UK for a long time and put the UK as a primary choice as the best study destination. Apart from the students the employers will also benefit from access to global talented graduates. Also the students will have an enduring link with the UK.

In 2018 UK universities imparted education to 460,000 global students, excluding the EU area students. The government has a plan to achieve 600,000 in the next decade.

Additionally, the minimum £30,000 salary threshold of the government for work visas was improper because many graduates in medical and other research areas were earning lesser than that. 

The Education Department states that the new immigration route can be availed by international students when they successfully complete an undergraduate level course in a subject or higher at a higher education college or university and also have a compliance record.  They can get tier 4 visa from 2020.

The route will allow students to take up a work at all levels, and they can soon after apply for a long term work visa.