UK visa: With pro-migrant govt in power, international students from India can study, work on these visas

The Rishi Sunak-led Conservatives lost badly to the Labour Party headed by Keir Starmer in the UK general election early this month. Although Rishi Sunak was the first Hindu British with roots in India, and his loss is not good news back home in India, his right-wing party was not seen positively by prospective immigrants from India and other parts of the world.

In fact, the Conservative Party government headed by Rishi Sunak had introduced a range of policies to clamp down on immigrants.

These entail the phasing out of dependents’ visas for students, plan to send illegal immigrants on a flight to Rwanda, and discontinuation of visa for dependents of care workers.

Indian students who wish to go to the UK to study or work have a number of visa options to choose from:

One can go as a student of undergraduate or postgraduate study or a research programme. Some students can also take along a spouse as a dependent. Upon reaching there, one can move to another category of visa, such as a Tier 2 or Graduate Route visa.

Here we give a lowdown on the types of visas:

I. Student visa: The student visa is provided by a licensed provider which issues a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) once they have offered a place on the course. Before you apply for the visa, you need to have a CAS. The tenure of the visa is generally only a few months longer than the tenure of the course.

II. Skilled worker visa (Tier 2 visa): A skilled worker visa enables a citizen of another country to come or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer. This visa has replaced the Tier 2 (General) work visa.

It also allows you to work in UK waters which means territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. One needs to have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ (CoS) from employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK.

III. Dependent visa: One can apply for the visa of spouse so long as the person is a government-sponsored student starting a course that lasts longer than six months.

If your master’s level course begins with effect from January 1, 2024, it must be either a PhD or doctorate or a research-based higher degree.

IV. Graduate route visa: A graduate visa gives you permission to stay in the UK for a minimum of two years after successfully completing a course there. The applicant must be in the UK at the time of applying. The graduate visa lasts for two years, and in the case of PhD, it lasts for three years.

It is not permitted to extend your Graduate visa. However, one may switch to a different visa, for example, to a Skilled Worker visa.

It is noteworthy that this visa was put under review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which recommended the continuation of this visa in its current form.