Nigerians and other immigrant students in the United Kingdom are at high risk of deportation after completion of their academic programmes as a result of conflicting visa and educational policies.

BBC said the looming deportation is due to the row between the UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the Department of Education.

Braverman is currently seeking to reduce the amount of time foreign students can stay in the UK after graduation.

In its effort, the Department for Education wants to resist Braverman’s plan to reduce it to just six months from two years, after which they have to have a skilled job that makes them eligible for a work visa or leave the UK.

According to BBC, “Braverman has committed to cut immigration and ‘substantially reduce’ the number of unskilled foreign workers coming to Britain, from 239,000 to the ‘tens of thousands’.

“As part of that, she wants to reduce the number of international students who can apply for a graduate post-study work visa, which allows any student who has passed their degree to remain and work in the UK for at least two years.

“But education officials fear this will make the UK less attractive to foreign students, who pay far more than UK students for their courses and are a major source of income for universities.”

Recent data released by the home office of the UK revealed that the number of study visas released to Nigerians increased by 222.8 per cent, with 65,929 issued as of June 2022 as against 20,427 in the same period in 2021.

Also, a report by SBM said Nigerian students and their dependents in the United Kingdom were said to have contributed an estimated £1.9 billion to the economy of the UK.

The data which covered the 2021/2022 academic session estimated that a sum of £680,620,000 were reportedly paid as school fees with a total of £54.3m paid in taxes by working spouses of the students. (Vanguard)

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