Student visa crackdown sends out wrong signal, says Boris Johnson

Student visa crackdown sends out wrong signal, says Boris Johnson:

On visit to India, London mayor says number of Indian students applying to study in UK is falling
The London mayor, Boris Johnson, has said government restrictions on overseas students are putting off the brightest from coming to study in Britain.
During a five-day visit to India, Johnson said the clampdown on overseas students and bogus colleges had sent out the wrong signal and could hit the £2.5bn revenue stream that British universities earn from their fees.
Johnson told Indian students at Amity University, south of Delhi, that he was pressing the government to set up an educational exports commission to promote Britain's universities abroad and help secure their future. One of its first tasks would be to examine whether foreign students were choosing to study in the US, Canada and Australia instead of Britain.
"The government is right not to open the door to those who will simply be a drain on the state, but it's crazy that we should be losing India's top talent and global leaders of the future to Australia and the United States," he said.
The home secretary, Theresa May, is due to visit India this week where she will discuss visa and immigration questions as well as counter-terrorism issues.
Johnson released figures showing there had been a 9% fall in the number of Indian students applying to study in the UK this year. A further fall of 25% is forecast for next year.
He singled out the new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies as having a damaging impact on Britain's reputation of remaining open for international students.
The mayor said he had written to May and the business secretary, Vince Cable, backing a campaign to exclude students from the government's target of reducing net migration to below 100,000 by the time of the general election, compared with the latest figure of 211,000.
"We are going to set up with government an education exports commission to look at the issue to make sure we get the right message across so that if the government decides to make changes to the visa regime it doesn't do damage to a sector in which London is so strong and it is so valuable," Johnson said.
He said 75% of Indian students did get visas but there was a problem of perception: "As I have written several times to the home secretary, we need to see a strong statement of welcome to make sure that the visa system is not a deterrent to international students."