• No changes to Post Study Work Visa

• Students can no longer switch from a study visa to a work visa before completing their course.

• From Jan 2024 intake onwards, only international students on courses designated as research programs will be able to take family members as dependents.

A new proposal released in UK Parliament last Tuesday states that only international students studying designated courses as research programs such as PhD students or research-led masters courses will be able to bring their dependents. So international postgraduate students on non-research courses will lose the right to bring family to the UK. In another hand, it’s analyzed that UK Government is trying to ensure the brightest and best students can continue to bring dependents when they study at the UK’s world-leading universities.

According to data of The Office for National Statistics, net migration was over 500,000 from June 2021 to June 2022 up from 269,000 in 2019.  Last year the number of dependents of overseas students increased by 750% since 2019, to 136,000 people, an eightfold increase from 2019, when 16,000 were provided. The move comes as official statistics are expected to confirm that net migration rose to more than 700,000 this year.

To prevent misuse of the visa system, overseas students will be stopped from switching from the student visa route into work routes until their studies have been completed. It’s very clear that there are no changes mentioned in this new proposal regarding Post Study Work Visa. The new reforms will come into effect for international students from January 2024.