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No evidence foreign students are abusing UK graduate visas, review finds
https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/14/no-evidence-foreign-students-abusing-uk-graduate-visas-reviewNo evidence foreign students are abusing UK graduate visas, review finds
Migration Advisory Committee says the risks are low, despite Tory claims the route is being exploited
Rajeev Syal and Richard Adams
Tue 14 May 2024 05.00 EDT
There is no evidence of widespread abuse of the UK’s graduate visa route, the government’s immigration advisers have concluded, despite repeated claims from senior Conservatives that it is being exploited to enter the jobs market.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said the graduate visa entitlement – allowing international students to work for two or three years after graduating – should remain in place. Members said the risks of abuse were relatively low and “not undermining” the integrity and quality of the higher education system.
The decision was greeted with relief by vice-chancellors, who have warned that abolishing the graduate visa would spell financial turmoil for the sector. But higher education leaders said they still feared No 10 could cherrypick elements of the report to justify a further crackdown.
The home secretary, James Cleverly, commissioned the review amid a growing clamour in Tory circles that graduate visas were being abused to gain access to employment.
[...]
Migration Advisory Committee says the risks are low, despite Tory claims the route is being exploited
Rajeev Syal and Richard Adams
Tue 14 May 2024 05.00 EDT
There is no evidence of widespread abuse of the UK’s graduate visa route, the government’s immigration advisers have concluded, despite repeated claims from senior Conservatives that it is being exploited to enter the jobs market.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said the graduate visa entitlement – allowing international students to work for two or three years after graduating – should remain in place. Members said the risks of abuse were relatively low and “not undermining” the integrity and quality of the higher education system.
The decision was greeted with relief by vice-chancellors, who have warned that abolishing the graduate visa would spell financial turmoil for the sector. But higher education leaders said they still feared No 10 could cherrypick elements of the report to justify a further crackdown.
The home secretary, James Cleverly, commissioned the review amid a growing clamour in Tory circles that graduate visas were being abused to gain access to employment.
[...]