The UK government has revealed that visa applications have dropped from 141,000 to 91,000 (about 35.46 percent) since changes to the immigration policy came into effect.
The new rules that aimed to reduce immigration from a record 1.22 million came in December 2023. By January 2024, the change was effective.
This change banned international students from bringing dependents, with an exception to those on postgraduate research courses or government-funded scholarships.
The statistics made by the Home Office revealed that study visa applications between January and July 2024 reduced by 16 percent compared with January and July 2023.
The country also recorded an 80 percent fall in the number of applications for health and care worker visas within this period.
“Monthly numbers of Health and Care Worker visa applications from main applicants increased from 4,100 to 18,300 between February 2022 and August 2023, following the addition of care workers to the skilled worker visa. Applications have decreased since August 2023, falling to 2,900 in July 2024,” the report said.
Nadra Ahmed, executive co-chairman of the National Care Association, stated while speaking to the BBC that a number of workers have relocated to other countries that offer a less restrictive immigration policy.
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