UK Stuns: Ban on Nigerian Students’ Family Ties!

The Home Office of the United Kingdom has officially initiated the enforcement of a dependent UK visa ban, preventing Nigerian students in the UK and other foreigners from bringing their family members. The announcement was communicated by the UK’s Home Office through a statement on Monday. According to the new policy, only international students in the UK pursuing postgraduate research or those on government-sponsored scholarships will have the privilege of bringing dependents through study visas.

With emphasis on the new developments, the Home Office said, “We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration. From today, new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarships students will be exempt.”

The Home Office, in an official statement on its website, disclosed that the dependent UK visa ban policy is part of a broader strategy to reduce migration. This change is estimated to result in approximately 140,000 fewer people coming to the country, highlights the UK visa ban news.

The net migration figure was 672,000 from June 2022 to June 2023, as per the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In the year ending September 2023, there was a significant increase, with 152,980 visas issued to dependents of international students in the UK. This marked over 930% rise from the 14,839 visas issued in the year ending September 2019. 

The Home Office initially introduced this policy under Suella Braverman in May 2023. It was to curtail Nigerian students and other international students in the UK to bring their family members as dependents unless under specific circumstances. Dr. Richard Montgomery, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, stated that the policy was designed to address housing problems by controlling the influx of immigrants.

The UK visa ban news emphasises that the country will no longer permit foreign students to switch from the student route to work routes before completing their studies under the new regulations. This will help prevent misuse of the UK visa system. Additionally, there will be a review of the maintenance requirements for students and dependents. The UK government will also put a crackdown on unscrupulous education agents who exploit inappropriate applications for immigration purposes rather than education. 

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