§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the immigration status is of persons who are graduates of UK universities and holders of non-EU passports who have been invited to take up employment in the UK within the field of their educational background. [16793]
§ Angela EagleA student graduating from a United Kingdom University who is subject to immigration control would require a prospective employer to obtain a work permit for them prior to them taking up that employment.
Such individuals are able to remain in the United Kingdom while the work permit application is being considered. The Immigration Rules will be changed formally next year to allow graduates, student nurses and postgraduate doctors and dentists to obtain work permits without first having to leave the country. In the meantime this announced policy is being applied as a concession outside the rules.