All foreign university students on courses below a PhD are set to be barred from bringing family members to the UK, under plans being considered by the Government.
The move would mean more than 100,000 dependants currently brought into the UK by overseas students on masters, MBA and other postgraduate courses were blocked.
Ministers believe the ban would reduce immigration at a stroke, ending what they claim has been abuse that has helped push levels of net migration to record levels.
The number of dependants brought to the UK by foreign students has risen tenfold from 12,800 in 2018 to 135,788 last year, amid evidence obtained by The Telegraph that low-skilled Indians are exploiting student spouse visas to come and work in the UK.
Students have disclosed how they use the visa scheme to bring their less well-educated spouses to the UK as a backdoor route to work. They are helped by agents in India who advertise how they can secure dependant visas for their spouses within days without them even requiring an English language test certificate.
Read more via The Telegraph
