Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on universities of their financial liability for international students overstaying their visas.

There has been no assessment made as the Home Office currently places no direct financial penalties on sponsors whose students overstay their visa.

Our system of sponsorship is based on two basic principles; those who benefit most directly from migration (including universities that bring in migrants) help to prevent the system being abused; and those applying to come to the UK to study are eligible to do so and a reputable education provider genuinely wishes to take them on. The ability to recruit international students is not an automatic right, but a privilege. It is right, therefore, that sponsors check that a student is genuine and that they intend to leave the UK, or switch into work route, once their visa has expired before offering them a place. Making sure that, at the end of their visa, students leave the UK at the end of their visa or remain here legally is just as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.

The Government has made clear our intention to use the introduction of exit checks to place more responsibility on sponsors for migrants who overstay. We are currently considering how to best deliver this commitment.