….Over 9,000 were granted student visa 2019
Kevin Foster MP, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, has urged Nigerian students seeking to study abroad to choose UK as a place to study.
Foster who is the minister responsible for visas and immigration revealed that 9,000 Nigerian students were issued student visa in 2019.
Besides, Nigeria students recorded a 27% increase on the previous year. In addition, 93% of Nigerian students were successful in receiving a student visa – showing that the vast majority of UK student visa applicants are granted.
The minister who was speaking ahead of today’s annaul celebration of international students, said UK is open to students.
He also highlighted visa flexibility around Covid-19, as well as the new Student Route, as reasons to continue choosing the UK for study.
He therefore encouraged even more students from Nigeria to choose the UK as a place to study.
Foster said: “Nigerian students have always been a huge part of our community – and we look forward to welcoming more to our world leading Universities. Put simply, we want the best and brightest to study in the UK, which is why we have made it easier to apply.
“The UK will always value and welcome international students, and whether now or in the future, we want Nigerian students to choose the UK as the place to fulfil their potential.”
Catriona Laing, British High Commissioner to Nigeria said: “Last year, over 9,000 Nigerian students were successfully granted a visa – a 27% increase on the previous year. This is a testament to the strengthening links between the UK and Nigeria.
“But more than that, each successful visa means another student heading to the UK, to build their career, expand their horizons and find out more about all that the UK has to offer. We hope that this continues, and that many more students from Nigeria follow their fellow citizens on this journey.”
The Student Route and Graduate Route are part of the UK’s new points-based system, the new system of visas and immigration that the UK is opening in January 2021. This will create a fairer, clearer system, where what matters is the skills an individual has rather than their nationality.
The UK’s new Student Route promises to make it even more streamlined and convenient for Nigerian students, with benefits such as applying up to six months in advance, and additional opportunities to extend student visas from inside the UK. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK was among the first countries to introduce visa flexibility for students, including permitting remote study for the whole 2020-21 academic year and replacing thousands of expired visas free of charge so Nigerian students could still travel.
Furthermore, in Summer 2021 the UK will be introducing the Graduate Route, a new post-study work visa that will allow eligible students two years (or three years for PHD students) to stay back after they graduate to work, or look for work in the UK.
