Return of the flawed post-study work visa

September 11, 2019

Commenting, Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said:

This unwise and retrograde step will likely lead to foreign graduates staying on to stack shelves, as happened before. Our universities are attracting a record number of overseas students so there is no need to devalue a study visa by turning it into a backdoor route for working here.

Note to Editors

• The MAC said last year that the earnings of some graduates who remain in the UK seem 'surprisingly low' and that 'it is likely that those who would benefit from a longer period to find a graduate level job are not the most highly skilled'.
• The MAC's chairman told Parliament last year that immigration into lower-skilled work makes the UK a ‘slightly lower-wage and lower productivity economy’.
• The Higher Education sector should base their appeal on the quality of their education, not on the availability or otherwise of low skilled post study work.
• For more, see our longer piece on this topic: Why Should We Allow International Graduates To Stay On And Stack Shelves?