Visa suspension lifted following heavy criticism

The UK Border Agency have announced they will be lifting the suspension of student visas from North India, Bangladesh and Nepal following a month of criticism and protest.

The suspension of the visas, introduced in early February, was aimed at reducing the amount of bogus colleges and came following a suspicious increase in student applicants from the region.

Pat McFadden, Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “The suspension was taken in response to a huge surge in applications over a very short period of time.

“I am delighted to be able to announce today that, from 1 March, this suspension will be lifted for all students wanting to study higher education courses, whether foundation degrees, undergraduate or postgraduate.”

The introduction of the suspension was met with protests in Nepal, where many felt the measures could prevent legitimate students from entering the country.

The UKBA has been making it tougher for international students to enter the UK since the introduction of stricter rules and requirements last year, aimed at reducing the number of students coming to the country to work illegally.

Commenting on the issue, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:

“The points-based system was introduced to provide a rigorous system to manage legitimate access to the UK to work and study, with the ability to respond to changing circumstances.

"We want foreign students to come here and study, not to work illegally... we have set out necessary steps which will maintain the robustness of the system we introduced last year.

"I make no apologies for that.”

The suspension will continue to affect shorter degrees.