Atasi Jain, M.Sc. Data Analytics, 2018 graduate, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, the U.K.
I welcome the decision but being a recent graduate, I feel it could have been taken earlier. While my classmates, being U.K. residents, were able to secure permanent jobs in companies, I was only able to take up an internship on a Tier-4 visa. I had to put in extra efforts and resources to gain full-time work experience.
If this decision had been taken earlier, I wouldn’t have had to spend more time and money on getting a Tier-1 visa, and would have simply shifted to a work visa, as I had an offer. Many Indian students studying in the U.K., deserve this chance, and I hope that they get the best out of this now.
Ankita Behl, M.St. Creative Writing, University of Cambridge, the U.K
I have been in London for almost three years now on a study visa. I have become hopeful after the announcement of the post-study work visa as I will graduate next October. I hope its benefits will be extended to students who are already here.
Four months are far too less, even if you were to look for an internship, let alone a job. Some of my friends who graduated this year had to turn down job offers because they did not get a visa extension. If only this had been introduced sooner, so many of them would have had the chance they deserved. It would have allowed them to get at least a valuable work experience, if not a work visa.
Mohammed Abdul Salam, III, B.Eng Civil Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, the U.K.
The renewal of the post-study work visa has definitely brought relief for international students, especially for us civil engineers who need a certain period of on-field training to qualify for a full-time job. Moreover, it will be an incentive for students to get involved in extra-curricular and other social activities, which I feel is the most crucial take-away from studying abroad.
Post-study work visa is something that I have campaigned for within my university and I am glad that it has finally come back after a long time. I hope students take advantage of this and make the most out of their time in the U.K.
Aditya Agarwal, Diploma in Culinary Management, Le Cordon Bleu, London, the U.K.
This is great news for international students. However, as the post-study work visa only applies to students from the next academic year, students graduating this year will be unable to avail the benefits of this provision. Perhaps, if I had known about this earlier, I would have considered deferring my admission by a year. This would have also given me more time to consider the career options available after studies. I hope the U.K. government reconsiders its decision of allowing students graduating next year avail of this benefit too. It will make the U.K. job market a more level playing field.
