By Youssef Bashir 

If you are the kind of person who likes to keep up with the news, you may have already heard of the so-called Immigration White Paper that was released in mid-May. If you are a local student, seeing as its contents do not affect you, you may not have thought much of it. However, for international students, whom it very much does affect, what follows is an explanation covering the basics and most important things you need to know about how the Immigration White Paper may affect you moving forward.  

Firstly, what is it? The UK Government's 2025 Immigration White Paper outlines a series of proposed reforms that could significantly impact all international students across the UK. While the White Paper by itself is merely an outline of intended future policies not yet enacted into law, these proposals signal a shift towards a more restrictive immigration policy, with potential consequences for international students' post-study opportunities. 

One of the most notable and relevant changes for international students is the proposed reduction of the Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months. This route, when applied for, currently allows international graduates to remain in the UK for an extra two years after their studies to seek employment or actively work without the need for a sponsor, as one would be for a Skilled Worker visa. As the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has also noted, this reduction could diminish the UK's appeal to prospective international students, who contributed over £40 billion to the UK economy alone in the 2021/2022 academic year. 

The government also plans to implement stricter compliance measures for educational institutions, citing a concern that the bigger portion of international students that have come to the UK for study in recent years are those who have been accepted by “lower-ranked education institutions,” and not those who have been accepted by “top 100 universities”. This could lead to increased scrutiny and administrative burdens for institutions, potentially affecting the student experience.  

Furthermore, the White Paper suggests a 6% levy on tuition fees from international students, which would cost financially struggling UK universities a huge amount of money. This financial strain could then take shape in reduced resources and support services for students — an overall net-loss for everybody.  

To add on to all of the above, another significant proposal is the extension of the residency requirement for permanent settlement from five to ten years. This change would mean it would take twice the amount of time for most people to obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain, including those on student visas who would now have to continue to seek sponsors for their potential work visas for a much longer duration.  

This all comes at a time when the UK Government has already raised the salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas by 48%, to a general £38,700 per year, or in some cases £30,960 per year, such as for recent graduates. This increase has already been posing challenges for international graduates seeking employment in the UK, as entry-level positions often offer salaries below this threshold. 

These proposed changes were not received kindly by current international students when they were informed of them. “It’s like they don’t even want us to be here. Especially once we’re done with university,” says third-year student Charlie Liu. 

“It’s sad because all of these restrictions are making me want to stay here less and less. That’s probably what they want, actually,” shared second-year student William Lin. 

“It doesn’t make sense, because the UK is so expensive. If they make it this hard to work after, why would anyone come here?” posed second-year student Revent Khant. 

Universities UK (UUK) has warned that the proposed changes would only worsen the financial crisis facing British universities, as less and less international students, who pay higher tuition fees than local students, would want to come to the UK. 

As these proposals go through the legislative process, international students at Middlesex, as well as everywhere else in the UK, are encouraged to stay informed on further, concrete decisions made beyond this White Paper, and to not lose all hope. While currently ambiguous, there is a section referring to potential concessions for those who are already currently in the UK. Whether that means the reduction to 18 months on the Graduate Route will only apply to new applicants, or not, we will all have to wait and see. Naturally, when any of these proposed changes come into law, our university support services will no doubt be the first to let those affected know.