Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce net migration figures.
On 23 May, the Government announced a package of measures to tackle the substantial rise in the number of student dependants coming to the UK. This package includes:
o Removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes.
o Removing students’ right to switch into a work route before their studies are complete.
o Reviewing maintenance requirements for those applying for student and dependant visas.
o Clamping down on unscrupulous education agents selling inappropriate applications.
o Improving communications about visa rules to universities and international students.
o Improved and more targeted enforcement activity.
We expect this package to have a tangible impact on net migration. Taken together with the easing of temporary factors, like our exceptional humanitarian offers, we expect net migration to fall to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term.
We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the UK and reflect the public’s priorities.