For 38-year-old Javed Abbasi, pursuing a course in the UK seemed like the best option to make a career change. Having made up his mind, he left a well-paying job in India and enrolled in the University of Westminster in September last year.
"Changing careers is quite difficult, but I was determined. I felt it was easier to do it in a new country where such transitions are encouraged," Abbasi, a Telangana resident who's currently pursuing his master's in human resource management, told The Quint.
What appealed to him is the post-study work visa offered to international students by the British government – also known as the 'Graduate Route'.
The route, announced by the UK in 2020 and implemented in 2021, allows Indian and other foreign students to stay unsponsored in the country for two years after completing their courses. The decision was made to persuade foreign students to choose the UK as a destination for further studies over other countries.
The rules were announced at a time when the country was severely cash-strapped and was facing dire issues: post-COVID-19 economic challenges, Brexit, and a leadership crisis over the 'Partygate' scandal.
However, the government in March this year tasked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the Graduate Route visa – a decision which has left many Indian students in the lurch.
The committee is likely to submit their report by 14 May, and many insiders in the country's higher education sector feel that the current rules will be scrapped.
If that happens, all foreign students who are not sponsored by an employer will have to leave the country after completing their courses.
'Wouldn't Have Come to the UK Unless...'
"There is a sword hanging over us. If they overturn the rules, it will be a complete change in how I had planned to shape my life," Abbasi told The Quint.
He is not alone. Jay Singh, 34, said that the post-study work visa was the only reason he chose the UK for further studies over other destinations like the US and Australia.
"I would not have even considered paying such a high sum of money to come to the UK if it were not for the graduate rules," he said.
Students say that the two-year period was crucial for them as they could explore different opportunities without the burden of visa expiration weighing down on them. It was also a time when students could try to earn back the money they had invested and pay back loans.
Students say that the UK job market is already extremely precarious, and taking away the Graduate Route will only add fuel to the fire.
"I don't know of any foreign student, including myself, who has been able to secure a job within six months of graduating," said Ashraf Nehal, a 23-year-old Indian student who graduated from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in January this year.
"Foreign students in even the top universities of the UK are struggling to land jobs. I have a Sri Lankan friend who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Westminster last July. Till date, he has been working at McDonald's because he isn't getting a job in any of the companies of his choice," he told The Quint.
Nehal, who is currently doing several freelance jobs in the country, says that if the Graduate Route is scrapped and an employer refuses to sponsor him, he will have no choice but to return to India and look for a job.
Why Is the UK Govt Reviewing the Graduate Route?
Sanam Arora, chairperson of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU), said that higher education in the UK is intrinsically linked with the debate around immigration.
The implementation of the Graduate Route visa had triggered a wave of migrations into the country – with an influx of around 6 lakh foreign students between 2019 and 2024.
"Immigration often becomes a political topic, and in an election year you can see why that becomes an even bigger concern," Arora told The Quint.
With the review of the Graduate Route, the UK government is actually doubling down on its previous efforts at stemming the flow of migration.
In May last year, the government had announced that in order for a foreign student to be sponsored by an employer, he or she must secure a job that pays at least £38,700 a year. It also announced that international students would no longer be able to bring dependents with them unless they are pursing PhD courses.
"As per the January intake, there are already 40 percent fewer enrollments of Indian students. This is just on the back of changes announced in May 2023 and a bit of speculation around changes in the Graduate Route," Arora said.
Research conducted by the NISAU predicted that if the Graduate Route visa is scrapped, there will be a 70 percent fall in the number of Indian students coming to the UK in the next few years.
Arora said that while she is not opposed to a review, it is too soon to gauge its effect since it's been around only for three years.
"Only one cohort of international students has gone through it – that too during a time when the UK was going through one of its hardest economic periods. So, any review undertaken now will present the worst-case scenario and the results will be very skewed."Sanam Arora
The other major factor behind the UK's decision is the alleged misuse of student visas as a stepping stone in getting citizenship in the UK.
"In the past, students used to enroll in colleges in the UK, pay the fees of the first semester, and come to the country with their dependents. However, they would not complete their courses and would instead take up jobs in the country, as would their dependents," said Kishore Dattu, national general secretary of the Indian National Students Association (INSA) – an organisation that oversees the welfare of Indian students in the UK.
Dattu says that misusing student visas isn't all that difficult as there has been a proliferation of universities in the country – many of which offer "useless" degrees.
"There are around 150 universities in the country out of which hardly 20 are very good. The rest are just buildings which are tagged as universities."Kishore Dattu
Why UK Universities Oppose the Scrapping of the Graduate Route
Foreign students are not the only ones in the lurch over the uncertainty surrounding the Graduate Route. UK universities, too, are opposed to the move as they risk losing out on massive revenues in the form of fees paid by students.
According to The Migration Observatory, the 6 lakh foreign students who came to the UK between 2019 and 2024 added a staggering €60 billion to the British economy.
"Foreign students have been used as a cash cow. They pay incredibly high fees, take up jobs, and pay high taxes. They are actually filling the market labour and contributing abundantly to the economy," Dattu told The Quint.
Furthermore, he says that British nationals don't pay even half the fees paid by their foreign counterparts while enrolling for courses in UK universities.
"An average Indian student spends about £35,000 or Rs 36 lakh – which is big money for a middle-class Indian family. It is not a solid investment if there is no chance of earning the money back by taking up a high-paying job in the UK after graduating. So obviously students won't even consider coming here if the rules are scrapped."Kishore Dattu
Mental Health Woes Plague Students
All the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Graduate Route, coupled with the stress of being away from family and friends, has been weighing down heavily on the mental health of Indian students in the UK.
"There are some things which we come prepared for. For example, it's Eid today (10 April) – and I literally have nobody to celebrate with. But when something you're not prepared for happens, it has an exponential effect," Javed Abbasi told The Quint.
He says that constantly reading news of probable changes in the rules has become a "trigger" for him.
"I get emotional every other day. All the things pile up – going for classes, doing a part-time job, cooking for myself, doing everyday chores – that too in a place where you have no family or friends. Someone who rarely cries tends to break down very easily nowadays. Even the smallest thing tends to cause tears to roll down my eyes. The life is tough, and the government is making it tougher by throwing such surprises at us."Javed Abbasi
He further said that almost every Indian student he has spoken to has expressed some level of regret over their decision to choose the UK as a destination for further studies. "The post-study work visa was critical in everybody's decision-making process."
Sanam Arora said that Indian students who have secured jobs are extremely anxious about whether their companies will sponsor them.
"We have been speaking to many Indian students who are very worried about the review. One person I spoke to recently is just about to finish his course and has a job offer from a very reputed company. But the worry is, if the Graduate Route visa gets taken away and his employer doesn't want to sponsor him, then he'll lose the job," she said.
(The Quint has reached out to the Migration Advisory Committee of the UK government but has not received a response yet. This article will be updated as and when they respond.)
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