The U.K. government has made major changes in the U.K. dependant visa rules. International students who are pursuing Masters Program will not be allowed to bring family members on dependant visa from January 2023. Only those international students pursuing research / PhD degrees would be exempted.

This change, temporary as of now, is likely to be made permanent soon. It has caused concern among many Indian students planning to seek admission in U.K. educational institutes for upcoming intakes. There are obvious reasons for this change, and also benefits that many worried and confused Indian students should understand. Let’s clear the air.

There is no change to the existing graduate visa system. Students pursuing a degree would be allowed to stay in the U.K. and pursue work opportunities after completing their program. However, they would not be able to switch to work visa from a study visa before completing the program
The main reason for this change is to attract and retain quality and skilled workforce. Research / doctorate students are likely to contribute more to the economy for a longer time and therefore issuing visas to their dependants made more sense to the authorities. No country should be blamed for wanting to do this
Admittedly, a high percentage of unskilled / casual work is taken up by the family member/s on dependant visas. Reducing this number would in fact benefit all students, whether pursing graduate, post-graduate or research programs. They’d have better and wider access to part-time work and post-study work opportunities in the organized segment, which was hitherto taken up by dependants

Let’s hope that this clarity helped you understand about the new U.K. study visa rules and would aid in making an informed decision. Reach out to us if you need any further assistance on securing your U.K. study visa.