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News Articles for December 2009
December 28, 2009
Student Visas 'A Massive Hole' in Border Controls as Numbers Top 1.5 Million in 8 Years
December 22, 2009
Service under strain as ‘Migrant a minute' registers with an NHS doctor
Full Text of Press Release : December 2009
Student Visas 'A Massive Hole' in Border Controls as Numbers Top 1.5 Million in 8 Years
Nearly 3/4 of visas under the Points Based System are given to students1½ million students admitted in just 8 years
No checks on how many leave UK
Roll of Immigration Officers severely undermind
A new report out today reveals that student visas are a massive loophole in our border controls. Nearly three quarters of visas issued under the Points Based System are given not to workers but students, under a system that is easily abused, badly administered and complex. Far from being “tough and flexible” as the Government claims, the new Points Based System has made a bad situation much worse.
The report by Migrationwatch shows that:
nearly 1½ million student visas have been issued in the last 8 years. Students also account for a huge number of applications for extension. For example, between 2004 and 2007 they averaged about 140,000 per year [1]
- only about 5% were refused. Time spent on a legitimate student visa counts towards the five years required to apply for settlement. This could well be having a significant impact on net immigration and, therefore on our population growth.
- there have been no checks on departure – so many of these students may still be in the UK.
- nearly three quarters of applications under the PBS are from foreign students - only just over a quarter of those who enter under the PBS come for the purpose of work.
- the administration of the student visa system is now largely run by those who have a vested interest in admitting students – the 2,000 colleges and institutes of education who are “sponsoring institutions”.
- the role of immigration officers has been changed such as to render it almost pointless. One told the BBC “I am forced on a daily basis to allow entry to passengers who clearly hold no ability or intention to follow any course of study in the United Kingdom”.
- there are just 62 officials to vet the 3,000 educational institutions and 13,500 employers who have been granted licences under the PBS system.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch said:
‘Once again the Government’s claim that their Points Based System is effective in managing immigration is shown to be worthless. Our report shows that nearly three quarters of the PBS is made up of student visas which are already a gaping hole in our immigration system.
‘We now issue 370,000 student visas a year – almost the entire population of Bristol or Manchester - yet hardly any of the applicants ever see hide nor hair of an Immigration Officer. Student visas have long been a massive loophole in immigration control. The PBS makes a bad situation considerably worse; it is now clear that it has feet of clay,’ he said.
[1] Control of Immigration; Statistical Summary 1999-2007, Table 4.2
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Service under strain as ‘Migrant a minute' registers with an NHS doctor
New research published today reveals the pressure that immigration is placing on the NHS.
The research, conducted by Migrationwatch, found that in 2007-8, 605,000 people who arrived from overseas registered with a GP in England and Wales – equivalent to one registration a minute, day and night, throughout the year. This was nearly 100,000 more than the inflow recorded in the International Migration Statistics for England and Wales for the same period. This suggests that short-term migrants (or illegal migrants) have also registered. Only 69,000 of the 605,000 were British people returning from a spell overseas.
The number of arrivals from overseas registering has increased by 50% in the past seven years but it is only in the last three years that registrations have exceeded the inflow of migrants. Of course migrants also leave. 333,000 left England and Wales in 2007-8 but this “churn” together with the additional population adds to the strains on the NHS.
These GP registration data are not precise as they are not compiled for statistical purposes. If anything, they understate the pressure of immigration on the National Health Service as those migrants who move practices within a year would not show up as arrivals from overseas. Furthermore, young men who make up a large proportion of migrants are known to be less likely to register with a GP than other groups.
There are no checks on the entitlement of those who seek to register with a GP, indeed doctors have discretion to register whoever they choose.
Five years ago, in May 2004, the Government issued proposals to exclude overseas visitors from eligibility to free NHS primary and medical services. The then Secretary of State promised “to ensure that the NHS is first and foremost for the benefit of residents in this country” [1]. On 20 July 2009, five years later and on the last day of Parliament, the government issued proposals which included “to maintain GP discretion to determine registration to access free NHS primary care medical services along with the established principle that GPs may charge non-residents as private patients" [2].
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration watch said: “This amounts to an open door to primary care which can also lead to access to secondary care. The government has been dithering while the NHS has been struggling to cope with the extra numbers resulting from mass immigration. In present financial circumstances it is surely obvious that we do not have the resources to cope with the extra ten million people now officially projected over the next 25 years – seven million as a result of immigration.”
Notes:
1. http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4082267.pdf
2. http://nds.coi.gov.uk/clientmicrosite/Content/Detail.aspx?ClientId=46&NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=404959&SubjectId=36
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