Considering India to be one of the countries highly respected for its excellence in higher education, London Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed his concerns with India, urging the United Kingdom government to add India to the list of low-risk countries and avail the students with simplified visa application process.
In a letter to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid, a Pakistani origin mayor expressed his displeasure with exclusion of India from the expanded list of countries from where overseas students can access a more streamlines university application process.
Last month, the UK Home Office had announced that citizens of 11 additional countries including China, Serbia, Bahrain and Mexico would be able to access a streamlined process to apply for Tier 4 student visas to study at UK universities.
India was conspicuous by its absence on that list, leading to an outcry among student groups and other senior leaders.
According to the London Mayor’s office, the number of Indian students coming to the UK is falling from a peak of nearly 24,000 a year in 2010-11 to a low of around 9,000 a year in 2015-16.
Despite that, the Home Office said that “India did not meet the required criteria to be included on the expanded list.”
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Countries already on the student visa trusted list included Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, the UAE, the US and Taiwan.
The 11 countries added to the list include China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Bahrain, Serbia, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Maldives and Macau.
