Visas may be tightened for foreign students

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - The government is considering tighter controls on entry visas for overseas students, to address concerns that illegal immigrants are using them as an easy way to get into Britain.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said officials would look at the possibility of raising the minimum level of course for which students could gain permission to stay.

One in seven visa applications are for students, with 242,000 granted in the 2007/08 financial year and almost 100,000 refused.

The announcement came as Brown addressed public concern over immigration in a speech in London, acknowledging that many people in Britain fear foreign workers are taking their jobs and putting strains on local housing.

He said the visa review would also look at rules which allow students on shorter and lower qualification courses to work part time, to see if they were filling jobs "that would be better filled by young British workers."

But the Immigration Advisory Service charity said tighter rules could hit colleges and universities, some of which rely on overseas students for more than half their income.

"Student visas represent a major source of income to this country," the charity's chief executive Keith Best told BBC television.

Brown said immigration was neither an issue for fringe parties nor a taboo subject.