UK Government Considers Deportation for International Students with Poor Grades

 

The UK government has launched a plan to potentially deport international students who do not achieve satisfactory grades, particularly impacting their eligibility for the two-year graduate visas.

Reports from British tabloids state that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), at the request of Home Secretary James Cleverly, is reviewing the graduate visa as part of a broader initiative to decrease net migration by 300,000 from its record-high levels.

In the year leading up to June 2023, over 98,000 students were granted the two-year visas post-graduation, marking a substantial increase of 42,000 or 74 percent within a year. Concerns have been raised about the visa being exploited as a means to access low-skilled jobs or to remain in the UK without employment obligations.

Chairman of the MAC, Professor Brian Bell, commented on the directive, stating, "There’s no requirement to get particular grades in your university course or anything like that. That’s the question we want to review in the graduate route to think about whether that’s sensible or whether you should have a rule that says you have to achieve a certain grade or a certain kind of achievement in your course."

The MAC is also exploring the possibility of additional restrictions, such as allowing foreign students to stay only if they attend specific universities or complete designated courses. This may also extend to limitations on certain types of jobs or activities.

Professor Bell added, "At the moment, there’s no restriction on what you can do. You can, if you’ve got the money, just sit around and do nothing in the UK for two years. You can also take a minimum wage job or you can take a very highly paid job."

The MAC's annual report revealed concerns about the abuse of the care worker visa route, which is being exploited as a means to bring illegal migrants into the UK and exploit foreign staff as cheap or unpaid bonded labor. Instances of fraudulent care companies and evidence of bonded labor, zero-hours contracts, unpaid hours, and non-payment of salaries were highlighted in the report.