UK Visa for African Students

UK Visa for African Students

On Saturday 16th March 2019, the UK government announced that it will be extending the period of post-study leave for international student visas, improving visa processes and supporting employment for international students.

This content was originally published on After School Africa from The UK Department for Education said ‘post-study leave period will be extended to six months for undergraduate and master’s students, and a year for doctoral students.

This means that international students, after completing their courses in the UK universities, will now be given visa extension for up to a year to look for work.

Currently, students must find a job with a salary of at least £20,800 with an employer with a Tier-2 sponsor licence within four months of completing their course, which most Masters students find difficult to obtain. However, Undergraduate and Masters students will be now given six-month post-study work visa to look for jobs, while PhD students’ post-study visa of one year remains unchanged.

UK currently hosts around 460,000 international higher education students, 30% of whom are African students.

This move by the UK government, will raise the number of non-UK students at British universities from 460,000 to 600,000 by 2030.

This is a part of government measures to increase the number of overseas students after Brexit. Brexit, a referendum which was passed by the UK to leave EU in June 2016, is due March 29.

There are still calls for the UK government to go further and extend this opportunity to at least two years. In the meantime, here’s how to get a UK visa.

Types of UK Student Visa:

Short-term study visa: If you’re studying a short course and are over 18 years old, you may apply for the short-term study visa. The Short-term study visa is valid up to six months for most short courses and can be extended to 11 months for English language courses.

Tier 4 Visa: If you’re studying a longer course, then, you’ll need a Tier 4 (General) student visa for those aged 16 and over.

What you can and cannot do with the UK Student Visa

▲ You can: