The Indian High Commissioner is taking up the issue of students being unable to obtain a UK work permit under the previously available post-study visa route.
Ranjan Mathai invited around 100 students studying at UK universities to India House in London to discuss the effects of the UK Government scrapping the system, which previously allowed self-financing non-EU students to work in the UK after graduation.
He said he had discussed the issue with the UK authorities and outlined the situation which has been linked with the drop in Indian students choosing to study in the UK.
Mr Mathai told the Hindustan Times: “Many of the students who I have had an interaction with feel that if they’d had a chance to pay their way by staying on for a year – which the system allowed before – then it would make their taking loans and coming to the UK for education more worthwhile, more possible. That’s one reason the numbers have gone down.”
He is has also contacted a number of MPs and is calling for the Government to review the decision, which ended the post-study visa scheme in 2012.
Deputy High Commissioner Virander Paul said that India’s University Grants Commission is also negotiating with UK academic organisations.
The meeting in London was the first such interaction in around three decades and the High Commission now aims to reinstate the meetings as regular events. It will also be travelling to other university towns and cities across the UK to discuss the issue with Indian students affected by the visa changes.