Nigerians, Others Face Deportation As Two UK Departments Battle Over Immigrant Students

A row between the United Kingdom Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the Department of Education has placed Nigerians and other immigrant students in the country at a high-risk of deportation after completion of their studies.

Naija News gathered that immigrants who travel to Britain to study can stay behind two years after graduation but Braverman is currently seeking to cut down the amount of time foreign students can stay in the UK after graduation.

But the Department for Education, according to The Daily Mail, is said to be resisting Braverman’s plan to cut the twelve years to just six months, after which they have to have a skilled job that makes them eligible for a work visa or leave the UK.

“Braverman has committed to cut immigration and ‘substantially reduce’ the number of unskilled foreign workers coming to Britain, from 239,000 to the ‘tens of thousands’.

“As part of that, she wants to reduce the number of international students who can apply for a graduate post-study work visa, which allows any student who has passed their degree to remain and work in the UK for at least two years.

“But education officials fear this will make the UK less attractive to foreign students, who pay far more than UK students for their courses and are a major source of income for universities,” the media house stated.

According to The PUNCH, the UK is one of the choicest destinations for Nigerian students seeking to study overseas.

Recent data released by the home office of the UK revealed that the number of study visas released to Nigerians increased by 222.8 per cent, with 65,929 issued as of June 2022 as against 20,427 in the same period in 2021.