UK approves 386% rise in visas for Nigerians in two years
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria received the largest rise in United Kingdom study visa approvals in 2021, a year in which Nigerian doctors also numbered 9,189 in that country with 805 of them licensed in six months.
Study visa approvals for Nigerians jumped 347 per cent to 36,783 in 2021 and 386 per cent counting back to 2019, according to UK government data on student migration numbers.
The report said Nigeria got the largest increase among the top five nationalities which include China, India, the United States, and Pakistan.
Chinese nationals were the most granted Sponsored Study visas in full year ending September 2021 (FY 2021), with 135,457 visas granted, an increase of 13 per cent compared with FY 2019.
Chinese students accounted for 32 per cent of total Sponsored Study visas granted, a slightly smaller proportion than the peak of 43 per cent granted in FY 2019.
“In the top 5 nationalities, Nigerian nationals saw the largest relative increase in Sponsored Study grants compared with the year ending September 2019, increasing by 28,923 (+368 per cent) to a record high of 36,783, making them the third largest nationality group this year,” the report said, per reporting by Nairametrics.
Nigerians were granted 7,860 Sponsored Study visas in 2019 compared with 8,229 in 2020 and 36,783 in 2021.
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Few dependants
Sponsored Study visas bring relatively few dependants, with 90 per cent of the visas issued being to main applicants, compared with 68 per cent for Work visas.
But Sponsored Study grants to dependants almost trebled to 44,605.
In “the year ending September 2021, two nationalities accounted for the majority (63 per cent) of Sponsored Study dependants: India (33 per cent) and Nigeria (31 per cent),” the report said.
Despite having more Sponsored Study visas granted than any other country, China only had 355 dependants granted visas in this route, just 0.8 per cent of the total.
Graduate route
The British government announced last year that the new Graduate route would resume for applications on July 1, 2021.
The route is for international students who want to work after completion of a course of study at a UK bachelor’s degree level or above.
Students on the Graduate route can work or look for work after their studies for a maximum two years, or three years for doctoral students.
