The Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced a further tightening of student visa rules yesterday in a move which could cut the number of visas issues by tens of thousands.

Non-EU students will have to be able to speak English to just below GCSE standard, when formerly they could gain a visa with beginner level English.

Those on courses shorter than six months will no longer be allowed to bring dependents with them. Students on courses below degree l­­evel have had their work allowance cut to 10 hours a week from 20 hours  – and their dependents will be banned from working.

In addition, only those institutions on a new register called the Highly Trusted Sponsors List will be able to sponsor student visas for study involving a work placement on courses below degree level.

The new rules are designed to make it harder to enter the UK, and to remain in the country after a student visa has expired.

The Home Secretary said: “We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study ‑ they remain welcome. But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but come primarily to work, they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on those that flout the rules. I make no apologies for strengthening an already robust system.”

The Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling called the student visa system the “biggest hole in our border controls for a decade”. The party has suggested that overseas students should pay a deposit only returnable after they leave the country following study. Tory backbencher Mark Pritchard has even proposed that universities withhold degree certificates until foreign students can prove they have returned to their home countries.

But at Goldsmiths yesterday students and staff met to discuss ways to oppose the Point-Based System of immigration (PBSI).

Introduced on March 31^st 2009, the system requires that students gain 40 points to enter the UK. Applicants receive 30 points for holding a course offer from a college or university and a further 10 once they prove they have enough money in their bank account to pay the fees and support themselves.

NUS Black Students officer Bella Ribeiro-Addy spoke at the packed meeting, stating that PBSI regulations were linked to racism and xenophobia and were “an injustice to international students.”

Veteran campaigner Tony Benn also spoke, along with Des Freedman of the University and College Union (UCU) which has a policy of non-compliance with PBSI.

The campaign, ‘Students Not Suspects’, aims to obtain a guarantee from college management that staff members who refuse to take registers – which could be passed on to the UKBA – will not face disciplinary action.

Their position statement argues that PBSI laws “frame students as suspects and turn staff into border agents” and “force distrust and suspicion” on the university learning environment.

The government estimates that 30% of migrants who entered the UK did so with student visas, often enrolled on short courses. The newly tightened regulations follow the suspension of student visa applications from northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh by the UK Border Agency last week, in response to a large rise in applications.

 In 2008/9, around 240,000 student visas were issued by the UK, and international students are thought to be worth between £5bn and £8bn to the economy.

 The changed requirements do not need legislation and come into effect immediately. The Home Office refused to give an estimate on the drop in the number of visas it expects to grant due to the new rules.

Tags: Alan Johnson, immigration, PBS, student visas, Students not Suspects

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