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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Britain to tighten entry criteria liao!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Rules under study could make it harder for students, professionals</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LONDON: Foreign students and professionals such as engineers may find it harder to get into Britain in the months ahead.
The British government is considering tighter controls on entry visas for overseas students, to address concerns that illegal immigrants are using them as an easy way to enter the country.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said officials would look at the possibility of raising the minimum level of course for which students could gain permission to stay.
One in seven visa applications are for students, with 242,000 granted in the 2007/08 financial year and almost 100,000 rejected.
The announcement yesterday came as Mr Brown addressed public concern over immigration in a speech in London, acknowledging that many people in Britain fear foreign workers are taking their jobs and putting a strain on local housing.
Criticism that the government's immigration policy is not working comes amid predictions that Britain's population is set to hit 70 million in 20 years.
Mr Brown said the visa review would also look at rules which allow students on shorter and lower qualification courses to work part time, to see if they were filling jobs 'that would be better filled by young British workers'.
But the Immigration Advisory Service charity said tighter rules could hit colleges and universities, some of which rely on overseas students for more than half their income.
'Student visas represent a major source of income to this country,' the charity's chief executive, Mr Keith Best, told BBC television.
Mr Brown said immigration was neither an issue for fringe parties nor a taboo subject.
'I have never agreed with the lazy elitism that dismisses immigration as an issue or portrays anyone who has concerns about immigration as a racist,' he said. 'People worry about whether immigration will undermine their wages and the job prospects of their children. They worry about whether their grown-up children will be able to get housing anywhere near them.'
Labour ministers have long hailed immigration as benefiting the economy.
Said Mr Brown: 'If the main effect of immigration on your life is to make it easier to find a plumber, or when you see doctors and nurses from overseas in your local hospital, you are likely to think more about the benefits of migration than the possible costs.'
But he urged immigrants to live up to their responsibilities.
The government has been accused of ignoring the worries of poorer families, who blame migrant workers for problems in deprived areas where jobs and social housing are scarce.
Those concerns have seen a rise in support for the anti-immigration British National Party, which has scored gains in local council polls and won two seats in June's European Parliament elections.
Steep rises in immigration over the past decade and a recession-led climb in unemployment are set to be a factor in a general election due by June next year.
The Conservatives pledge they will impose a cap on immigration. But Mr Brown rejected fixed limits on migrant numbers as damaging to employers seeking workers.
He said the government would instead tighten its policy of 'managed migration' through a points-based system introduced last year. This restricts visas for workers from outside the European Union to professions with recruitment difficulties.
'Over the coming months, we will remove more occupations and therefore thousands more posts from the list of those eligible for entry,' he said.
He said jobs that could be dropped from the shortage list might include engineering roles, skilled chefs and care workers.
Although Britain has tightened controls on non-EU nationals, it has little power to restrict migration from within the 27-nation bloc, most of whose citizens are free to come to Britain to work.
[email protected]
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Rules under study could make it harder for students, professionals</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LONDON: Foreign students and professionals such as engineers may find it harder to get into Britain in the months ahead.
The British government is considering tighter controls on entry visas for overseas students, to address concerns that illegal immigrants are using them as an easy way to enter the country.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said officials would look at the possibility of raising the minimum level of course for which students could gain permission to stay.
One in seven visa applications are for students, with 242,000 granted in the 2007/08 financial year and almost 100,000 rejected.
The announcement yesterday came as Mr Brown addressed public concern over immigration in a speech in London, acknowledging that many people in Britain fear foreign workers are taking their jobs and putting a strain on local housing.
Criticism that the government's immigration policy is not working comes amid predictions that Britain's population is set to hit 70 million in 20 years.
Mr Brown said the visa review would also look at rules which allow students on shorter and lower qualification courses to work part time, to see if they were filling jobs 'that would be better filled by young British workers'.
But the Immigration Advisory Service charity said tighter rules could hit colleges and universities, some of which rely on overseas students for more than half their income.
'Student visas represent a major source of income to this country,' the charity's chief executive, Mr Keith Best, told BBC television.
Mr Brown said immigration was neither an issue for fringe parties nor a taboo subject.
'I have never agreed with the lazy elitism that dismisses immigration as an issue or portrays anyone who has concerns about immigration as a racist,' he said. 'People worry about whether immigration will undermine their wages and the job prospects of their children. They worry about whether their grown-up children will be able to get housing anywhere near them.'
Labour ministers have long hailed immigration as benefiting the economy.
Said Mr Brown: 'If the main effect of immigration on your life is to make it easier to find a plumber, or when you see doctors and nurses from overseas in your local hospital, you are likely to think more about the benefits of migration than the possible costs.'
But he urged immigrants to live up to their responsibilities.
The government has been accused of ignoring the worries of poorer families, who blame migrant workers for problems in deprived areas where jobs and social housing are scarce.
Those concerns have seen a rise in support for the anti-immigration British National Party, which has scored gains in local council polls and won two seats in June's European Parliament elections.
Steep rises in immigration over the past decade and a recession-led climb in unemployment are set to be a factor in a general election due by June next year.
The Conservatives pledge they will impose a cap on immigration. But Mr Brown rejected fixed limits on migrant numbers as damaging to employers seeking workers.
He said the government would instead tighten its policy of 'managed migration' through a points-based system introduced last year. This restricts visas for workers from outside the European Union to professions with recruitment difficulties.
'Over the coming months, we will remove more occupations and therefore thousands more posts from the list of those eligible for entry,' he said.
He said jobs that could be dropped from the shortage list might include engineering roles, skilled chefs and care workers.
Although Britain has tightened controls on non-EU nationals, it has little power to restrict migration from within the 27-nation bloc, most of whose citizens are free to come to Britain to work.
[email protected]
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