UK top destination for Indian students

United Kingdom, 31st August: UK has emerged as the most favored destination for Indian students to study. This is despite the fact that a large number of restrictions have been imposed by the UK immigration department recently.

As per the available official figures, out of the total Indian students making applications for studying overseas, twice the number of students preferred UK as the place to study over the colleges in the US.

Britain already has granted 57,500 UK student visas to Indians wishing to enroll themselves in the UK colleges. And the number of US student visas issued to Indian students happens to be 32,000 which is almost half of the student visas by the UK immigration department.

Last year, the number of US student visas issued to Indians for studying there was 27,000 while the UK student visas granted to Indians in the year 2009 stood at 34,000.

It may be mentioned that earlier this year, the UK immigration department had placed a temporary freeze on issuance of UK student visas for students hailing from India (especially North India), Bangladesh and Nepal after an unprecedented six-times increase in the applications for UK student visas from all these three nations.

And as per the latest ruling by UK immigration department, all applicants desirous of moving to the UK on UK student visas for enrolment in English language schools in the UK will have to face stricter requirements in the form of proficiency in English language. 
The reason for increasing number of Indians choosing the UK over the US is being attributed to the availability of short-term courses in nations other than the US, allege the educational consultants. Moreover, tight rules have been introduced by US banks recently for lending finance to students to pay for their study expenses.

And Australia’s loss in alluring Indian students following racial attacks on Indians seems to be Britain’s gain. As compared to 15,000 UK student visas issued to Indian students in the year 2004-05, the number of UK student visas went up to 27,000 in the year 2008.

The US, meanwhile, has a total of 100,000 Indians enrolled in various study courses in various US universities and colleges.