If elected, will lift work restrictions on foreign students: Sajid Javid

LONDON: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he would lift work restrictions on foreign students if he becomes prime minister.

Mr Javid pledge to reverse Theresa May’s stringent visa norms for international students from countries like India that will not allow them to work after they graduate from a British university.

“It makes no sense to send some of the brightest and most enterprising people in the world straight home after their time here,” Mr Javid, a contender for the Conservative party leadership, wrote in an opinion article for the Financial Times.

Mr. Javid, if elected as Tory leader would lift work restrictions on foreign students and allow them to stay in the UK for up to two years.

The senior Pakistani-origin minister comments go against Theresa May’s longstanding approach brought in when she was Home Secretary in 2012 that allows foreign students to work for no more than six months in an attempt to lower net migration figures.

Jo Johnson, the former Tory universities minister former universities minister welcomed his announcement.