UK set to ban Nigerian students, others from migrating with family

Reports say the UK government will announce sometime this week a ban on foreign students bringing their families over to the country.

The United Kingdom government has concluded plans to announce an alteration to its immigration policy with a view to stopping Nigerian students and other nationalities studying in the UK from bringing their families over

An exclusive report by The Sun UK disclosed that the new adjustments, aimed at stemming the mass influx of families into the kingdom, will be made public later in the week.

According to the report, the crackdown will only affect all master's students and several other postgraduate students who will be banned from bringing families with them to the UK.

Conversely, PhD students, whose courses usually last between 3 and 5 years and are very highly skilled will be exempted from the ban, the media house added.

UK fed up with massive influx

This is coming amid growing concerns over the net migration into the UK which skyrocketed to 1 million within a short period of time, prompting Tory MPs to ask the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, “to get a grip on the rocketing numbers.”

In response to the concern, it is said that the UK ministers are expected to announce the immigration clampdown on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Sun report claimed that â€œRishi Sunak is expected to come out fighting on immigration – pointing out they are figures he inherited as they date back to the year ending December 2022 – two months after he became PM.

“There has been an explosion in the number of people coming to Britain piggybacking on their relative’s student visa.

“Students brought 135,788 family members to Britain last year – nine times more than in 2019.

“Last year, 59,053 Nigerian students brought over 60,923 relatives.”

While a Tory MP told The Sun on Sunday that, “We have got to get a grip.”

The situation at home

This development comes amid an outcry in Nigeria over the mass exodus of qualified professionals in various fields, especially in the healthcare sector, to the UK and other Western nations.

The phenomenon, popularly known as Japa, has led to a massive brain drain in the country as qualified professionals continue to leave the country in droves in search of a better working conditions and pay packages.