The UK plans stricter regulations on visas for foreign students from non-EU countries. How will this affect the study abroad plans of Vietnamese students? VietNamNet Bridge – The UK plans stricter regulations on visas for foreign students from non-EU (European Union) countries. How will this affect the study abroad plans of Vietnamese students?

A survey released on September 6 showed that up to 1/5 of foreign students in the UK stay in the country for five years after they get visas. The Telegraph newspaper quoted British Minister of Immigration Damian Green as saying that the number of foreign students who are living and learning in the UK has become unbearable and that they will apply smarter measures to control immigration.

The minister remarked that the current administration now has to staunch the immeasurable and uncontrollable number of immigrants, so it is necessary to apply new regulations to ensure that only the most talented and most excellent people go to the UK to study and work.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has also announced that his administration will tighten immigration and reduce the yearly number from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands. Soon after taking the office in May 2010, he set up limit on the number of immigrants from non-EU countries.

Pham Hoang Uyen, Southeast Asia Director of University of Cambridge ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) in HCM City, observed that the new regulations makes it more difficult to enter the UK, and those people who want to enter the country must have a certain level of English. However, Uyen is optimistic, saying that this is an active decision that will encourage the teaching and learning of English, because students and immigrants need to make preparations for living and studying in the UK.

According to Uyen, Vietnamese students who follow intensive English programm in Vietnam will not meet too many difficulties with the new requirements, because the B1 standard, which is equal to PET or IELTS 4.0-5.0 is within reach.

Kieu Nguyen, an officer of an international education organization, also remarked: “I think that those students who study abroad and really want to improve, will not be influenced much by the new regulations. It is understandable why the British and other developed countries must tighten immigration laws. More and more students want to study in the UK or developed countries to settle there after they graduate. Therefore, immigration has become uncontrollable.

However, Vietnamese students do not think so, believing that the door to the UK has narrowed. A Vietnamese student now studying at an university in Liverpool and asked to be anonymous, claimed that the British government is too harsh and has unequal treatment for students coming from non-EU countries.

“Even my British professor said Asian students work and learn better than native students, and there is no reason to restrict the number of such students,” the student revealed. “It is only necessary to restrict the number of students from countries with high percentages staying in the UK after graduation.:

Hang Nguyen, a former student of Regents Business School London, also thinks that it is not a good solution. According to her, in theory, those students who cannot clearly show their reasons for studying in the UK will never be able to go.

Duy Hoang, a former student of Leicester University, told Tuoi Tre newspaper that, when talking with his British adoptive parents, he realized that many people do not agree with the new regulations. “I understand that the British government has every reason to set up the new regulations. However, I still think that it is really a pity because Vietnamese students will not have many opportunities to study in the UK any more,” he maintained.

Source: Tuoi tre