Why is the post-study work program important for Indians?

Padma M, an Indian student, decided to pursue a Masters program in Computer Science in 2018 from the Netherlands. What prompted him to make this choice was the attractive post-study work program offered by the Netherlands.

Netherland’s post-study work program was introduced in March 2016. It allows international students to stay in the country for up to 3 years after course completion.

Padma says that the UK did not offer a post-study work program and the US had taken an anti-immigration stance. This made Padma choose the Netherlands over the US or the UK.

This year on 11^th September, the UK brought back the 2-year Post-Study Work Visa.

Why is the post-study work program so important for Indian students?

When the Theresa May Govt. terminated the UK Post-Study Work Visa in 2012, the number of international students in the UK dropped dramatically. In 2007-08, there were more than 25,905 international students in the UK. This made up almost 7.6% of the total population of the UK. However, this number dropped to a shocking 3.7% in 2016-17.

Similar is the case with the US as well. After the Trump Govt. came into power in 2017, the number of international students in US Universities also dropped. This was due to stringent visa rules and uncertainty over work visas after course completion.

As per reports, lesser Indian students applied to US Universities in 2017. The percentage of applications from Indian students stood at 12.3% between 2015-16 and 2016-17. However, the percentage dropped to just 5.4% between 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Indians form the second-largest international student community in the US after China. In 2018, there were 3.63 lakh Chinese students in the US and 1.96 lakh Indian students.

As per Experts, Indian students look forward to work and gain experience after completing their studies. Hence, they look for countries which offer a good post-study work program.

Studying abroad can be an expensive affair. Thus, working abroad means that an Indian student can pay off education loans faster.

V Parvatha went to the US for her higher education in 2011. She had to take an education loan of Rs 20 to 30 lakhs to do so. She says that when you earn in dollars, it becomes much easier to pay off your loans.

Vignesh N took an education loan of Rs 30 lakh to study abroad in the UK in 2013. However, since the UK did not have a post-study work program then, he had to come back to India after graduation. It took him a few months to find a job in India. He says he is still far from paying off his education loans.

Another important aspect of a post-study work program is that overseas work experience helps you get better job opportunities.

Y-Axis offers a wide range of Visa and Immigration services as well as products to overseas immigrants including UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa, Business Visa for the UK, Study Visa for the UK, Visit Visa for the UK, and Work Visa for the UK.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or  Migrate to the UK, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like…

Top 5 Business Schools in UK for your Management Degree