UK to extend work visas for foreign students

The British government has announced a new two-year post-study work visa in a bid to expand opportunities for 'talented international students to build successful careers in the UK'. The new 'graduate route' visa will be open to all international students -- including those from Bangladesh -- who have a valid UK immigration status as a student and have successfully completed a course of study in any subject at undergraduate level or above at an approved university.

The visa will allow eligible students to work or seek employment in any career or position of their choice, for two years after completing their studies. Graduates with bachelors or master's degrees are currently allowed only four months to look for work. 

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the new Graduate Route will mean talented international students, whether in science and maths or technology and engineering, can study in the UK and then gain valuable work experience as they go on to build successful careers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also unveiled plans to transform the way talented international students are able build successful careers in the UK through a new immigration route, as a new ground-breaking project in the fight against life-threatening illnesses launches. International students make up half of all full-time post-graduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering
and Maths (STEM) subjects.

Students will need to have successfully completed a degree from a trusted university or higher education provider which has a proven track record of upholding immigration checks and other rules on studying in the UK.

The move is geared towards building on government action to help recruit and retain the best and brightest global talent, but also to open up opportunities for future breakthroughs in science, technology and research and other world-leading work in the UK.

The new project aims to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses including cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, arthritis and dementia, through genetic research that can explain why some people develop these conditions and others do not.

The partnership of pharmaceutical firms and health experts from the UK and abroad will examine and sequence the genetic code of 500,000 volunteers at the UK Biobank.Johnson said Britain has a proud history of putting itself at the heart of international collaboration and discovery.