Overseas students will have to find a graduate level job within two years of face under plans to tackle Britain’s soaring migrant numbers.
Foreign graduates are able to stay in the UK for up to two years without a job after finishing at university and then can remain if they find a lower-skilled job and switch to a work visa.
The graduate visa can be obtained by any international students who completes their course and allows stay in the UK for two years, or three years for those completing a PhD, without having to find a job.
However, a higher bar is now being considered by the government with sources telling the Times that careers in which salaries do not typically rise beyond a certain level after several years being targeted.
A graduate salary level could be defined as between £36,000 and £40,000 a year, according to Brian Bell, the chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
Around 150,000 progressed onto the graduate visa, estimated the MAC, contributing to 10 per cent of total net migration.
Official data covering the 12 months to June this year show long-term immigration was 728,000 higher than those leaving the country.
Most overseas students on the graduate route compete postgraduate taught courses while a third went to at Russell Group universities. Students from India, Nigeria, China and Pakistan accounted for 70 per cent of graduate visas.
Foreign graduates are able to stay in the UK for up to two year without a job after finishing at university and then can remain if they find a lower-skilled job and switch to a work visa
According to Home Office data from last year, of those who switched on the graduate visa half ended up leaving the country while 43 per cent moved onto a skilled worker visa and 50 per cent left the country. The rest opted for smaller visa schemes or to a student visa.
The government decided in early 2022 that care workers with salaries of £21,000 a year are eligible for a skilled worker visa.
A fifth of those leaving the graduate route to the skilled worker visa went on to become care workers, and a quarter in jobs being paid less than £24,000.
Universities UK, which represents 142 institutions, said: ‘Given the enormous economic, social and cultural contribution which international students bring to the UK, both while studying and in later life, it will be important to review any proposed changes to our points-based immigration system carefully.’
The Home Office said: ‘Our upcoming immigration white paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, linking immigration, skills and visa systems to grow our domestic workforce, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth. We are not getting into a running commentary on what will be contained in the white paper.’
