Skip to main content

Visas: Students

Volume 708: debated on Thursday 5 March 2009

Question

Asked By

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they propose to change the length of student visas, issued by the UK Border Agency, from the full length of the course to a maximum of four years.

My Lords, the Government have further considered their intention to restrict the length of a student visa under tier 4 of the points-based system to a maximum period of four years. I am pleased to be able to announce that we have decided to grant degree students visas for the full length of their course in the United Kingdom.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply with which I am delighted. In relation to medical courses, does he recognise that students must complete their pre-registration year and that under the Medical Act the undergraduate dean is required to sign that they are fit to be fully registered? Without being able to complete that year in the UK, the undergraduate dean cannot verify the quality of practice of that doctor and that potentially devalues the degree that they will have obtained here. Do the Government intend to honour Recommendation 11 from Sir John Tooke’s inquiry that students who are UK graduates from overseas should be eligible for postgraduate training in this country as well, a recommendation that the Secretary of State at the time agreed to?

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her questions. I was delighted to note from yesterday’s debate that people were pleased that we had shown flexibility in terms of the duration of time people would be here for a course. I will answer the questions in reverse order. Provision for postgraduate doctors and dentists with a place on a recognised foundation programme has been made under tier 4. In order to qualify, the applicant must have successfully completed a recognised United Kingdom degree in medicine or dentistry in a tier 4 institution, a UK publicly funded institution or a UK bona fide institution. I will come back in detail to the other point in writing because it is rather more complex and would take too long.

My Lords, I am aware that the visa system is now based on the Australian points system. While I welcome that, it is important that the Government realise that there is one big difference in terms of people who are destined to become world-famous artists, such as Joan Sutherland. They could never have achieved this if they were limited to a specific amount of time in the UK. No one goes to Australia to become world famous but they come from many countries to achieve greatness here. Does the present flexibility, which I welcome, extend to these potentially great artists?

My Lords, I hesitate to comment on the importance of going to the Antipodes to become famous. On the noble Baroness’s specific point, I do not know the exact detail. As I understand it, there will be flexibility to achieve this. The aim of the points-based system is to enable us to have some of this flexibility, as is shown in the fact that we have already changed the length of time that a student can stay for a course. That shows that we can change the flexibility of those rules within the overarching tier system. Therefore, that will be there. If that is not the case, I will get back to the noble Baroness in writing.

My Lords, will the Minister pay some attention to the sensitivity with which officials in the Home Office implement this policy? As it happens, I heard this morning of an American student at the London School of Economics who was told by the Home Office at the beginning of January that if she did not finish her PhD by the end of February, her visa would be revoked. Does the Minister recall that in early January there was an interesting story in the Times, which said that more officials in the Obama Administration had studied at the London School of Economics than at any other British university? Sensitivity counts in these areas.

My Lords, I absolutely take that point. This whole area of education is so crucial for this country. As I mentioned in the debate last night, £2.5 billion in tuition fees alone comes into this country every year: not to mention all the cultural advantages and the fact that we have so many world leaders in all sorts of areas who have trained here. That is absolutely taken on board. I know that the Home Office is not known for sensitivity. Actually, I think it has become more sensitive, although I would not say that that is anything to do with me. I absolutely take the noble Lord’s point, and I will ensure that it gets fed back.

My Lords, following up the Minister’s reply in our debate last night, will the Home Secretary’s recent announcement about limiting the number of immigrants coming here affect student applications, and if so how?

My Lords, the intention is that it will not limit the number of students coming here. In terms of the various tiers, as I am sure the noble Baroness is aware, low-skilled migration remains suspended at the moment. That is an area in which there is an immediate impact. There is some movement in the skilled area of tier 2, but so far as students go there is no intention to limit the numbers.

My Lords, I have a question about Welsh institutions of higher education, and in so doing declare an interest as a former president of Aberystwyth University. The Minister may or may not recollect that for about a century the University of Wales was a federated unified institution. That is no longer the case; there are now 12 separate institutions. There is a great deal of cohesion, happily, between them, and the many modular schemes mean that there is a velocity of travel from one institution to the other. Will the Minister give an assurance that there is no question of foreign students having to apply for a refreshing of their visas in the case of such movement? Such a requirement could jeopardise very greatly the considerable enrichment, both financial and culturally, that comes from that source.

My Lords, if the University of Wales is on the sponsor register as the University of Wales, even with those separated units—I imagine it is, but if I am wrong I will get back to the noble Lord in writing—the answer is that the students would not have to apply each time they change. They can change courses within a particular university or unit. That is allowed for in the rules.

My Lords, are the rumours about the curtailing of post-study work arrangements for international students entirely unfounded or are they are correct?

My Lords, I am not absolutely certain. Is this after they have completed all their studies and then go on to post-study work? There will be an opportunity for them to do postgraduate work, but there is no intention to allow all the people who study in this country to remain here to work. They would have to go through the normal procedure for tiers 1 and 2.