KEY POINTS

• The UK government reduces the post-graduation visa from 2 years to 18 months in its negative impact for Nigerian and other international students.
• It will now take 10 years for migrants to become eligible for settlement, an increase from 5 years earlier
• The reforms are part of the attempts to fight visa abuse and strenuous immigration compliance.

Roughly thousands of students and migrants from Nigeria are likely to suffer as the United Kingdom will undertake a wholesome overhaul of its immigration system, along with a drastic alteration of its post-study graduate visa route.

According to Monday’s White Paper, the British government has changed the graduate visa so that foreign students can only remain in the UK for 18 months after graduation instead of two years.

UK cuts graduate Visa for credibility

UK Home Office officials say the change will bring back credibility to the student visa system, since it has reportedly been a route for job seekers without sponsorship, therefore UK cuts graduate Visa.

Longer road to settlement

The reforms have also considerable impacts on long term immigrants who aim at achieving permanent residency. The UK is raising the time needed to qualify for ILR from five to 10 years, making settlement rules much more restrictive.

This will directly affect the skilled Nigerian workers whom a good number of them had arranged their immigration schedule according to the last five-year road map to residency.

Compliance crackdown on universities

The new rules demand that UK universities improve their compliance if international students are to be admitted. Any institution with a poor record of placement after graduation or suspected of bad recruitment may lose their sponsorship licenses.

The Home Office said, “The path has lost its original aim.” We want to keep the UK’s labor market for only the most talented people from around the world.

Additional measures and economic focus

Along with these changes, employers will now pay 32 percent more in immigration skills charge, and applicants for skilled work visas need to have a degree from a university. Jobs that don’t require high skills will only be available for a fixed period if there is a labor shortage.

The UK is planning to change immigration by leaning less on overseas recruitment and concentrating more on building up domestic skills.

Reaction from Nigeria

After the reforms were announced, the British High Commission in Nigeria said they would work together with Nigerian government departments when the implementation plan is clear.

A spokesperson said that the UK is still a significant place for Nigerians to find work, study, travel, or migrate. ‘We are grateful for the part Nigerians play in making the UK better.’

These changes have caused worry among Nigerian students and their families who want to study overseas, since the opportunities for post-study work have become much less.