Page added on February 8, 2010

UK to tighten student visa rules

British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that nearly a third of immigrants sought to enter Britain on a student visa.

LONDON: Britain is to tighten the rules on immigrants entering Britain on a student visa, the government said on Sunday in a clampdown on a system which some security experts say has been exploited by Muslim militants.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Alan Johnson said the crackdown was part of a wider campaign against immigrants who apply for student visas even though they intend to work. The tighter controls could also help to tackle security concerns over militants who enter Britain ostensibly to study.

A senior Pakistani official in London accused the British government last year of failing to cooperate with the security screening of Pakistani nationals trying to study in Britain.

The issue climbed back up the political agenda last month when it emerged that the Nigerian man accused of plotting to blow up a passenger plane over Detroit tried to re-enter Britain last April to study at a bogus college.

Mr Johnson’s department said the changes were drawn up before the alleged Christmas Day attack and were part of a wider campaign to keep a closer eye on overseas students. “We will come down hard on those that flout the rules,” Johnson said.

Mr Johnson said that nearly a third of immigrants sought to enter Britain on a student visa and that the country was the second most popular study destination in the world.

The government has closed down 200 bogus colleges, which help students into Britain but don’t offer proper courses.

A Home Office spokesman would not confirm how many student visas are expected to be cut each year. Britain issued 236,000 student visas in 2008-09 and refused 110,000 applications.

Under the new rules, applicants from outside the European Union will need to speak better English and will face tougher restrictions on taking part-time jobs.

Immigration has long been a source of criticism for the ruling Labour, behind in polls before an election due by June.

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron has accused ministers of allowing an unsustainable number of immigrants into Britain and has proposed a cap to keep levels down.

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