LONDON – Adopting a more welcoming approach, the UK government has deiced to make visa rules easier for overseas students to seek work in the country, under new immigration rules set to be introduced on January 11 next year.
Under the recent changes, the international students are allowed to apply for skilled worker visa (Tier-2) as soon as they complete their studies instead of waiting for their degrees.
According to current rules, the students cannot apply for the work visa until their degree is awarded. These rules provides students only a small time frame to find a job while still in the UK, Times of India reported.
There are number of overseas students in UK are unable to apply for Tier-2 visa as they are waiting for their degrees after completing their courses.
The decision to relax the rules follows a long negotiations between the UK government and universities. Under the existing rules, international students are granted duration for complete course plus a few months under Tier-4 visas. These rules create hurdles for overseas students for looking a job in the UK.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has advocated a new category of post-study work visas for the students, enabling them to work in the country for 12-24 months after completing graduation studies.
