Yet another hurdle.

United Kingdom is second only to the United States for the number of immigrants and international student population. The number of students entering the country drastically increases every year.

 

Britain has announced a hike in its immigration fees to fund sweeping changes it plans to introduce to improve border security over the next 12 months.

 

Statisticians forecast that at least 70 per cent of the population rise over the next 20 years will be attributable directly to immigration and these also include the illegal immigrants.

 

Britain’s immigration minister, Liam Byrne said: “I am clear on our visa system, which is out of date. For many legitimate visitors-especially those who want to see loved ones, it’s too hard to get back together.”

 

The changes being considered in UK’s visa system are a part of the biggest shake up of the immigration system in 45 years.

 

Kalavati Ramachandran, 22, Preston said: “Most of the international students coming from India to study abroad are from middle class family background. The increase in the fees has caused an even greatest strain in their finances. Instead the home office officials can check for the accuracy of the documents and be stricter about the documents produced by the candidates.”

 

Many changes like the point system have been proposed to the UK’s visa system, including the proposal to reduce the current maximum leave for tourist visitors from six to three months.

 

Mr Byrne also said: “We welcome the contribution that legal migrants make to the economy and cultural life in the UK and we have ensured that these fees, which will usher in the biggest reforms to the immigration system in a generation, are at levels that will not damage our international competitiveness.”

 

Immigration from outside the EU is set to grow after the European commission announced it was introducing a “blue card” system aimed at recruiting upto 20 million African and Asians.