UK announces graduate visa program for international students
- The UK has opened a Graduate Visa program
- This application grants opportunity for students to stay and work in the UK for up to 3 years
- The program comes amid the impact of Covid-19 on the UK Economy
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The UK High Commission in Ghana has announced a graduate immigration route that allows international students to work in the United Kingdom for two to three years after successfully completing a course of study.
This new immigration policy by the UK follows high cases of mortality amid the Coronavirus pandemic. This has hurt the UK’s work force and also disrupted its economic prospects.
According to the UK High Commission in Ghana, international students can only apply for the Graduate Visa if they are already in the UK. They must also have studied a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course for a minimum period of time with their Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa.
Those willing to extend their Graduate Visa to a Skilled Worker Visa can also do that by switching to a different visa.
U.S. Visa Lottery/ scholarships and visa delays
The Coronavirus Pandemic has grounded millions of International Students from exploring their dreams to study in the United States.
In Ghana, tens of students who got admission to their various colleges of study in the U.S. have had to either defer their course or risk losing their scholarships and study grants.
With Ghanaian students beginning their US programs in 2021, they must obtain a Student Visa from the US embassy within 120 days before their program starts. But as it stands, consulates are operating with limited staff.
“US consulates are horribly backlogged. Majority of consulates are processing visas but not fast enough to get students here in time,” Jula Gelatt, Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute revealed.
The same challenge lies with the 2021/2022 visa lottery winners who are also yet to be interviewed by the US Embassy or Consulate. Many on social media have inquired of when their appointment will be scheduled by are yet to get any response.
Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson has stated that efforts are being made to address the situation.
“We are making significant efforts with constrained resources to return to pre-pandemic workload levels,” he explained.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
