From 1,500 to 52,000: The student boom reshaping UK immigration laws

U.S woos Nigerian students to its over 1000 community colleges [dailynigerian] ©provided by Business Insider Africa

The Nigerian diaspora in the United Kingdom (UK) experienced a significant increase via the country’s educational system. What some would deem a loophole in the system allowed the number of Nigerian dependents in the country to increase by 34 times. This increase spanned from 2019 to 2022, propelling a revision of the law by the UK government.

・UK experiences a 34-fold increase in Nigerian student dependents, prompting legal review.

・Policy revision announced as Nigerian student dependents surge from 1,500 to 52,000.

・However, the number of Nigerian applicants to UK schools has declined.

According to Richard Montgomery, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, as seen in the Nigerian news publication, Nairametrics, the number of dependents that accompanied Nigerian students studying in the UK increased dramatically between 2019 and 2022, rising from about 1,500 to 52,000.

This increase became very prevalent after the pandemic, seeing as there were only 1500 recorded Nigerian student dependents in the UK as prior to 2020.

“In the case of Nigeria, in 2019, before the Coronavirus pandemic, there were only one and a half thousand dependents being brought in from Nigeria, with those on study visas,” he stated.

The British high commissioner made this known on Sunday in Abuja via an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

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“In 2022, that figure had increased to fifty-two thousand dependents so that’s a thirty-fold increase in dependence. And it’s not just about Nigeria by the way,” Montgomery said.

“It is also about all foreign students, we saw similar rises, for example amongst Indian students coming to study in the UK,” he added.

However, a recent report indicated Nigeria’s disinterest in continuing to choose the UK as a study destination. According to official figures, the number of applications from Nigeria reduced by a stunning 46%, more than any other nation during the review period.

A report by the Times revealed that the decline in international students, notably from Nigeria, sent shockwaves across the United Kingdom’s educational system.

This problem is a result of Nigeria’s economic woes, which have led to a drop in the number of Nigerian applicants. The UK government has recently proposed several changes to student visas, which could have contributed to the decrease.

Earlier in the year, the UK government announced changes to its immigration laws aimed at cutting its spiking net migration.

The new regulation, which was slated to go into effect in January, prohibits anyone from using a student visa as a backdoor to work in the UK, as well as family members of foreign students attending non-research postgraduate degrees.

However, during the press conference at Abuja, Richard Montgomery disclosed that only international students enrolling in Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs will be able to enter the nation with dependents.