A transcript of oral evidence taken before the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee published recently provides an interesting insight into the questioning of Damian Green, Immigration Minister, on 26 June by the BIS committee. In particular, Green endorsed the successive amendments to the Tier 4 regime, commenting that there had been significant potential for abuse within the previous system and there is now a system which is "skewed" towards the best students and universities.
More recently, the Times Higher reported yesterday that Green quashed media reports over the weekend that the Government is considering removing foreign students from net migration figures in remarks made to the Home Affairs Committee on 10 July and indicated that to hit the Government's 2015 net migration target figures, “we will need a reduction in student visas”.
The comments were made the day after the UKBA announced that the Government intends to introduce this summer a targeted interview system concentrating on "high-risk applicants", with the expectation of up to 14,000 applicants being interview per year.
