Thursday 14th March 2013 – UK immigration minister, Mark Harper announced proposed changes to the UK immigration rules which would come into effect on 6th April 2013.
Amongst the changes, Mr. Harper announced to the House of Commons that Tier 4 students who completed Ph.D.’s in the UK would be allowed to extend their stay in the UK for one year after successful completion. This would allow them to work in a skilled occupation or set up a business in the UK under the UK entrepreneur visa route.
Mr. Harper is a member of the UK’s Coalition government which has taken steps to reduce immigration into the UK though he was not an immigration minister when the government closed the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa route in 2012. The Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa allowed all foreign graduates of UK universities to stay in the UK to work for two years after graduation. Whilst this change only applies to Ph.D. students, it will be seen as a partial U-turn by the government.
In November 2011 a speech by the mayor of London Boris Johnson criticised the UK government for the closure of the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa route in which he said the government had been ‘crazy’ and it sent out the wrong message to international students who would go and study elsewhere.