... But some fear that immigration may become tougher

Government wants to tighten rules and attract talented, higher-quality applicants, experts say

The Conservative Party's victory in the UK general election has caught the attention of the Chinese wishing to move there.

Katelynn Ou, 26, has worked for a British wedding company since she graduated from Imperial College London in 2012. She said she kept an eye on the election and became worried after seeing the Conservatives win.

"The party's policies on immigration are tougher. It means immigrating to the UK will be much harder, and related procedures, including visa applications, will be stricter," she said.

After the last election, in 2010, Conservative leader David Cameron promised to cut the immigrant quota and strengthen supervision of the immigration system.

In April 2012, the government cancelled the Post-Study Work Visa, a two-year visa for foreign students to seek jobs in the UK as a way of getting professional experience after graduating from any British college or university.

But the number of immigrants reached 298,000 by 2014, exceeding expectations and much more than the 100,000 target the Conservative Party promised five years ago.

Now the party has been re-elected, "which means the PSW will be unlikely to return and the immigrant quota reduction may be further pushed," Ou said, adding that fewer immigration opportunities and tighter policies are concerning some of her friends studying and working in the Britain.

Peter Liu, an immigration lawyer at Peterson Law Association Ltd in London, confirmed that foreign graduates would be affected to some extent, saying immigration policies are expected to be stricter.

"The threshold of immigrating to the UK will tighten, as the party will ask those who can make economic contributions to the country to stay," said Liu. "That's to say, the Conservatives want to improve the quality of immigrants."

"I clearly remember how serious the hit was when foreign graduates and those willing to immigrate to the UK heard the PSW was cancelled three years ago, and the situation, I think, shows no obvious change. It's still tougher," he said.

The Conservatives care engaged in refining the choice of graduates and tightening access to immigration, Liu said.

However, stricter immigration policies will be useful to prevent abuse of the system and can be effective in regulating UK immigration.

"After all, we cannot exclude the possibility that some foreign graduates here have no stable job or prospects. They were planning to rely on their accumulated time in Britain to immigrate, but now such behavior will not be tolerated."

Another immigration lawyer, Cindy Liu, of China Talent Consultant, said tougher immigration policies were a way of retaining genuine talent that could contribute to the UK's economic development, as well as encourage foreign students to study hard and aspire to become valuable to the UK.

"Education is a major industry in Britain, and several parties highlighted this in their election campaigns. In this way, stricter immigration policies, to some extent, are also aimed at ensuring the quality of education in the UK."

In her view, harsher immigration measures do not mean the Conservatives are oppse foreigners.

"Instead, Britain will continue to accept those who are able to make economic contributions here and immigrate through investment."

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 05/15/2015 page3)