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Out-Law News 2 min. read

MEPs propose right of non-EU students and researchers to stay on after studies


Students and researchers from non-EU countries could get at least nine months to find a job or set up a business after finishing their studies or research programme under plans agreed by members of the European parliament (MEPs).

The proposals will need to be approved by the parliament as a whole and by EU countries before becoming law.

Swedish MEP Cecilia Wikström, who is leading on the proposals on behalf of the European parliament, said that the proposals would allow European universities to "[strengthen] their competitiveness in the global arena, becoming more attractive than ever for talented, ambitious and highly-educated people from other countries, who will receive considerably improved conditions here".

It is currently up to individual member states to decide whether students and researchers from outside the EU may stay on after their studies or research have finished.

The proposals would merge two existing directives into a single directive covering entry and residency rules for students and researchers. It would also create mandatory provisions for interns and volunteers entering the EU as part of the European Volunteer Scheme, and include optional provisions for other volunteers, school pupils and au pairs.

The unified set of rules proposed would also make it easier for students and researchers to move within the EU during their stay, for example to take part in student exchange programmes. They would only have to notify the member state to which they are moving, rather than having to submit a new visa application and wait for it to be processed as is currently the case.

The new directive would also allow researchers to move within the EU for longer periods than currently allowed, and allow them to bring their family members with them. Family members would also be given the right to work while in Europe. Students would be given the right to work at least 15 hours a week under the plans.

"It is unlikely that the Home Office in the UK would be keen to support the proposals, as this would fly in the face of steps taken in recent years to impose tighter controls on the ability for graduates to stay in the UK when they finish their studies," said employment expert Susan Hay of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. "When the Home Office closed the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa route in 2012 they were responding to concerns about abuse of the category and a desire to keep migrant numbers down."

"Graduates still have a number of options available to allow them to stay, and benefit from certain special allowances made by the immigration rules. However, these provisions only really assist graduates who are lucky enough to obtain government funding for their business idea or find an employer with a sponsorship licence," she said.

"If the current proposals were adopted in the UK this would likely have a significant impact on the number of graduates being able to stay in the UK when they complete their studies," said Hay. "The European proposals to create more favourable rules for graduates have been in the pipeline in one form or another since at least 2013, so it remains to be seen whether this latest initiative will actually make it into law."

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