Small rise in Indian students after Brexit, EU citizens quit UK

Figures for year ending March 2017 showed Indian professionals given 58% of total visas

a drop of more than 50% in Indian students coming to the UK since 2010, new figures released on Thursday showed a 10% rise from the previous year, while net migration dropped because of tens of thousands of EU citizens leaving after the Brexit vote.

Figures for the year ending March 2017 showed that Indian professionals were given the most visas — 58% of the total visas granted. Indians (800) also figured among the top in the list of those forcibly returned to countries of origin.

The figures released by the office for national statistics and home office added to the controversy on student visas, with the new assessment suggesting the number of students not returning after completing courses is far lower than estimated.

The crackdown on abuse of student visas since 2010 was driven by estimates that tens of thousands of non-EU students – including Indians – remained in the UK illegally , but the assessment now is that those figures were “experimental” and the actual number may be far lower.

The crackdown included closure of the post-study work visa that was popular among self-financing Indian students, and the closure of nearly 900 bogus colleges that were admitting Indian and other non-EU students.

Faced with new statistical doubts, home secretary Amber Rudd announced a new study by the influential Migration Advisory Committee on the financial and other impact of students coming to the UK.

Universities UK (the umbrella body of Britain’s universities), other higher education stakeholders and some cabinet ministers have been demanding that international students be taken out of overall migration statistics, since the vast majority of them return home and cannot be considered migrants.

But earlier, as the home secretary and now as the Prime Minister, Theresa May has resisted the demand, mainly based on the estimate that tens of thousands of international students do not return to their countries after completing their studies.

Recent figures suggest the marginal increase in Indian student numbers was at the postgraduate level, while the largest drop was for vocational courses.