Indian nationals overtake Chinese nationals as the largest group of international students in the UK.
London: India has overtaken China in one area before the population: the number of Indian students studying in the UK. An enormous increase of 273 percent in visas granted over the previous few years has made Indians the largest group of international students studying in the UK, surpassing the Chinese, according to the UK's newly disclosed official immigration figures.?
Based on the report, there is a hike of 24 percent in student visas issued in the year ending September 2022 than in the year concluding September 2021.?
The Great Indian Domination?
Intriguingly, Indians continue to be the top nationality given work visas, with 56,042 issued in the most recent year, according to UK Home Office data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Indian nationals also earned the most work visas, contributing 36% of the specially created Skilled Worker Health and Care visa targeted at medical professionals, indicating their nation's support to the government-funded National Health Service (NHS).?
According to the UK Home Office, "The most common nationality granted sponsored study visas in the year ending September 2022 was Indian nationals with 1,27,731 (study visa) grants to main applicants, up by 93,470 from 2019 (34,261). According to the United Nations, Chinese nationals were granted 1,16,476 visas in the year ending September 2022, 2% fewer than the number granted a year ago.."?
The PSW (Post Study Work) route?
In the PSW route, there were 59,937 grants given to primary applicants, with 41% of these grants going to people from India. After successfully completing a bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree, or another course that qualifies, students can extend their stay in the UK to work or hunt for a job for a while under the PSW route, which went into effect on July 1, 2021. A graduate visa validates two or three years if you've earned a Ph.D. or another doctorate.?
HPI Visa Grants as a Catalyst?
Even though there are no Indian universities on the approved list of top international universities, the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa, which was introduced in May of this year to entice the brightest graduates from the world's top universities to work in the UK, saw a 14% grant to Indian nationals.?
?Statistics show a more than threefold increase in the number of study visas issued to citizens of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, and India since 2019. The record-breaking increase in immigration to the UK over the past year is regarded to have been significantly influenced by this growth.?
The Contribution of Brexit, The Pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine War?
The Russia-Ukraine conflict, the resettling of Afghans, the lifting of lockdown restrictions, the opening of a new visa route for Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas), and the first complete period of statistics following the transition since Brexit are all said to have contributed to the "record levels of long-term immigration," according to PTI.?
Following Brexit, net migration to the UK jumped from 1,73,000 to 3,31,000 in the year ending in June 2021. It also increased the numbers to 5,04,000 in the year ending in June 2022.?
Jay Lindop, the director of the ONS's Centre for International Migration, claims that a variety of worldwide events have impacted international migration trends in the 12 months before June 2022. When combined, these were exceptional.?
She said this increase is caused by immigration from non-EU nations, particularly students. More students entered the UK after studying remotely during the coronavirus epidemic when travel restrictions were lifted in 2021.?
However, the number of persons migrating has also significantly increased for various reasons. This includes persons traveling for familial and humanitarian reasons, such as those coming from Ukraine.?
The numerous unrelated factors now influencing migration make it difficult to predict if the earlier discussed trends will continue. As immigrants flow into the country in record numbers, UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency) will enact specific rules to control entry in the future.?