The United Kingdom has commenced the implementation of the new rule banning Nigerian and other overseas students from bringing in dependants via the study visa route.
The Home Office of the United Kingdom made the announcement of the implementation on its X handle on Monday.
The Home Office said only those on postgraduate research or government-sponsored scholarship students will be exempted from the development.
It said: “We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration.
“From today, new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK.
“Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarships students will be exempt.”
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The country had in May 2023 announced the plan to stop foreign students from bringing in their family as dependents except under specific circumstances.
Under the new rule, the UK will remove the permission for international students to switch out of the student route and into work route before their studies have been completed to prevent misuse of the visa system.
It said: “New government restrictions to student visa routes will substantially cut net migration by restricting the ability for international students to bring family members on all but post-graduate research routes and banning people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK.
“The ONS estimated that net migration was over 500,000 from June 2021 to June 2022.
“Although partly attributed to the rise in temporary factors, such as the UK’s Ukraine and Hong Kong schemes, last year almost half a million student visas were issued while the number of dependants of overseas students has increased by 750 per cent since 2019, to 136,000 people.”
