Theresa May in India – subject of visas on the menu.

The subject of visas to Great Britain and rights to remain in the UK will be hot on the agenda whilst Theresa May PM is in India. The Indian Government is not happy with various changes in the system including Indian firms who will now have to pay higher salaries if they want to transfer employees to Britain.  May also wants to cut the number of overseas students. Last year non-EU students were around one in five of 630,000 new migrants. May tightened visa rules and included them in net migration figures.

A spokesman for the Indian Government made it clear how high “the stakes” are about how May’s popularity depends on immigration issues.

An Indian student who did architecture in Sheffield says out of 70 students only one in four were British.  Many students want to stay when they graduate.

The overseas market is very lucrative and International Students are worth more than £7 billion to the UK economy per year.

The financial aspect of university fees and paying them off is also a big topic which of course affects British students as well as those from overseas.

Rules now say recent graduates get 4 months after graduating to look for a job at the end of their visa.  They can stay for six years if they find one paying at least £23,000 per year.  The UK does want foreign students to study but staying indefinitely is in the mix of further debate.