The recently announced British policy that prevents students on study visa from bringing their family members to the UK is not targeted at Nigerians only, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, said Wednesday.
Mr Montgomery, who addressed journalists after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, said the visa issue was not discussed with the Nigerian leader.
The new policy will come into place in January 2024 to replace the existing one that allows students on study visa to travel to the UK with their dependants.
The diplomat said the UK granted three million new visas last year, out of which 325,000 were between Nigeria and the UK.
“So, Nigerian visitors constitute over 10 per cent of the people coming to London and the UK.
“I would also like to provide the context that the number of Nigerian students coming to the UK has increased fivefold in the last three years. It is a fantastic success story for our universities and we are really delighted that so many Nigerians are coming to the UK.
“The issue about restrictions of people bringing dependents – that is not just for Nigeria but many parts of the world; many more students are trying to bring their dependents with them; and I think there are two issues here; the first is – it is not always possible to find housing services to meet all the needs of all our existing student population.
“Secondly, I think reasonable people will accept that we have to manage our visitor numbers and that we have to manage migration in and out of the UK; just as the Nigerian government does for your own borders,” the envoy said.
