A total of 142,848 sponsored study visas were granted to Indians, an increase of 49,883 (+54%) compared to the year ending June 2022, statistics from the UK Home Office showed. It also showed that grants to Indians are now around seven times higher than in the year ending June 2019.
UK issued close to 500,000 sponsored UK study visas in June 2023, equivalent to a rise of 23% on the previous year, with Indians accounting for almost a third. According to the stats released, almost 154,000 of all sponsored study-related visas were granted to students’ dependents.
The statistics also revealed that a total of 98,394 Graduate route extensions were granted in the year to June, with Indians accounting for over two-fifths (42 %). Previous analysis showed that 20 % of students whose leave expired in 2022 switched to the Graduate route following their studies.
Earlier this year, the UK had announced that it will not allow masters students to bring dependents with them from next year. However, it will still allow postgraduate research course students to bring dependents after 2024.
Non-EEA (Non-European Economic Area) students are behind the rise in study visas granted, rising by 24% in the past year. EU students “remained stable” according to the Home Office analysis, falling slightly by 1%.
Chinese and Indian students are responsible for the issuance of half of the sponsored study visas. Since then, around 107,670 student visas have been granted to Chinese students. However, this shows a drop of 6% from 2022. Not only this, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the US are also counted among the top nationalities that were granted study visas.
Article Reference: Economic Times Dated: Aug 24, 2023,
The new rules include a much higher salary threshold for foreign workers to access skilled visas. Other measures included stopping foreign health workers bringing in family members on their visas increasing a surcharge migrants have to pay to use the health service by 66 per cent, and raising the minimum income for family visas. Indian nationals represent the largest group of students granted leave to in the post-study Graduate visa rout. The group also has the second highest number of dependents in the UK.