On Wednesday, Richard Montgomery, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, revealed why the UK government restricted international students from bringing family members with them beginning in 2024.
Nigerians and other foreign citizens on study visas to the United Kingdom would no longer be able to bring in family members by January 2024, under a new policy enacted by the British Government to reduce migration.
Montgomery claims that the decision was made to reduce the strain on the country’s housing system and to limit the influx of migrants.
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“Many more students are trying to bring their dependents with them…but it’s not always possible to find the housing and services to meet all the needs of our existing student population…we’ll have to manage our migration in and out of the UK,” Montgomery revealed shortly after he emerged from a closed-door meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
On May 18, the new British envoy in Nigeria handed his letter of credence to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Remember that the UK Home Office announced that international students, including Nigerians, would be barred from changing from a student visa to a work visa until their studies were completed.
However, the decision was met with mixed reactions from international students, schools, and some British lawmakers, who claimed that the regulation would exacerbate labor shortages in critical sectors such as healthcare and jeopardize the country’s global standing as a top destination for international talent.
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But fielding a question from State House Correspondents, the British High Commissioner explained the regulation, saying, “I think there are two issues here. The first is, it’s not always possible to find the housing and services to meet all the needs of all our existing student population.
“And second, reasonable people would accept that we have to manage our visitor numbers and we’ll have to manage our migration in and out of the UK just as the Nigerian government would do,” he added.
Montgomery revealed that the number of Nigerian students in the UK has surged fivefold in the previous three years, despite the fact that they account for 10% of those granted UK visas each year.
“That issue was not raised in the meeting (with the Vice President) just now. But I would like to put the media debate about it in a broader context. Last year (2022), for example, the UK granted three million new visas, of which 325,000 were to Nigerians.
“Nigerian visitors constitute over 10 per cent of the people coming to London and the UK.
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“It’s a fantastic success story for our universities. And we are really delighted that so many Nigerians are coming to the UK,” he said.
The British High Commissioner revealed that his discussions with Shettima highlighted the current policy direction of the Bola Tinubu administration, which, he said, is being warmly received by UK investors.
“As I discussed with His Excellency, the big economic decisions being taken by this government are really important and are being noticed around the world: the removal of subsidy, the exchange rate reform, all of that create a much better investment environment.
“I was in London last week; I was briefing my ministers, but I was also talking to british business in finance, banking and investment sectors. They are all responding very positively to these first decisions,” Montgomery stated.
He also stated that their discussions included areas of support from the British government to mitigate the consequences of the discontinuation of petroleum subsidies, which has resulted in “tough times” for Nigerians.
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“We know that there are tough times going on at the moment, inflation and unemployment.
“The vice president and I also touched on some of the measures that might be possible to cushion the blow of some of these economic pressures.
“But I think the big issue is that these reforms help put Nigeria on a higher growth path; they will attract more investments and the United Kingdom and the city of London see Nigeria as a big opportunity going forward. I will be doing my part to try to boost those, enhance trade and investment,” he said.
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