Under the governance of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British government has announced the return of post-work visa, which will allow the Indian students studying in the United Kingdom to stay in the country for two years after their courses come to an end.
This scheme, which was announced on Wednesday, is applicable to students doing their Bachelor's, Master's degrees at a Higher Education Provider who also shows proof that they will validate the immigration checks along with other rules of staying in the country, Times of India reports.
This visa scheme was scrapped in 2011 by the then Home Minister Theresa May. The new scheme had allowed Indian students to stay and work in the UK for up to four months and six months for those who studied in certain 27 universities on a pilot.
The UK saw a steep decline in the number of Indian students after the restrictions were imposed. However, with the removal of these restrictions, the British government hopes to see an increase in Indian students coming to the UK to study.
The new visa rules apply to all eligible students to apply to jobs at any skill level for two years after they graduate. At the end of two years, they would need to convert to another visa or leave the country.
The news came as a relief to Sanam Arora, the founder and chairperson of National Indian Students & Alumni Union UK (NISAU).
"Students from India are very well-educated and they come to the UK looking for international work experience that will enable them to stand apart in the global and Indian jobs market. Plus India has high unemployment right now so it is not surprising they are looking for good employment opportunities," Sanam was quoted as saying by TOI.
She added that this would help Indians who took a student loan pay off their debts. However, she added she hoped the visa would not be a completely open and there will be restrictions in the visa so that there would not be any skimmers.
Other from different fields also welcomed the renewal of the old visa policy.
Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK said, "Evidence shows that international students bring significant positive social outcomes to the UK as well as £26 billion in economic contributions, but for too long the lack of post-study work opportunities in the UK has put us at a competitive disadvantage in attracting those students. The introduction of a two-year post-study work visa is something Universities UK has long campaigned for and we strongly welcome this policy change, which will put us back where we belong as a first choice study destination."
