The United Kingdom is expected to announce new restrictions that will prevent many postgraduate students, including Nigerians, from bringing their families to the UK.
The crackdown, which will see all master’s students and many other postgraduates banned from bringing family over, is set to be announced this week, according to a report by The Sun UK.
However, the ban will not apply to PhD students, whose courses usually last between 3 and 5 years and are highly skilled, the UK media house reported.
This move comes as net migration into the UK has reached 1 million, with Tory MPs calling on the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to address the issue.
To tackle the rising numbers, UK ministers are expected to announce the immigration clampdown on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Sun reports that “Rishi Sunak is expected to come out fighting on immigration – pointing out they are figures he inherited as they date back to the year ending December 2022 – two months after he became PM.
“There has been an explosion in the number of people coming to Britain piggybacking on their relative’s student visa.
Students brought 135,788 family members to Britain last year – nine times more than in 2019. Last year, 59,053 Nigerian students brought over 60,923 relatives.”
“We have got to get a grip,” a Tory MP told The Sun on Sunday.
