Carol Monaghan, a Member of Parliament (MP), has kicked against the new visa policy for international students announced by the United Kingdom’s government.

Ms Monaghan from Glasgow North West, who spoke at the parliament, said international students make valuable contributions, especially to the UK’s economy.

“The (UK) government’s new policy on international students visas is misjudged,” the Scottish National Party politician said on Wednesday.

She added that Scotland would have to suffer the consequences of what she described as a ‘misjudged’ policy of the government.

According to her, international students enriched the UK’s society in all sectors, including health, IT and universities.

On Tuesday, the UK government slammed a restriction on student visa routes in a bid to cut net migration.

The latest policy restricts international students, including those from Nigeria, from bringing family members on all but postgraduate research routes.

Specifically, the government banned people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK, while noting that net migration was over 500,000 from June 2021 to June 2022.

A statement issued by the Secretary of State for Home Department Suella Braverman, stated that half a million student visas were issued while the number of dependents of overseas students has increased by 750% since 2019 to 136,000 people.

Mr Braverman added that the new reforms would come into effect for students starting in January 2024 with severe restrictions around dependents.

“The government will however work with the higher education sector to explore alternative options to ensure the brightest and best students can continue to bring dependents when they study at the UK’s world-leading universities,” he added.

Figures revealed that overseas students contribute more than £4 billion to the Scottish economy, representing benefits worth thousands of pounds for residents.