Latest news with #studentvisa
CTV News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Federal minister plans to hold consultations this summer on immigration intake
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, June 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab says the federal government will consult this summer on its immigration levels plan and whether the student visa system is 'sustainable.' In a recent interview with University Affairs, Diab says the annual consultations will reach out to the provinces, university administrators and students themselves. An Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokeswoman says the government expects schools to only accept students they can 'reasonably support' by providing housing and other services. Post-secondary institutions across the country are posting deficit budgets this year, laying off staff and cutting programs as international student enrolment drops. The government last year announced a cap on study permit applications and a gradual decrease in the number of student visas. Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner says her party wants to see an 'immediate and massive' reduction in student visas due to high youth unemployment and the housing crisis. In May, Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate among returning students had hit 20 per cent, a three per cent increase over the previous year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Telegraph
Migrant on student visa murdered wife while she pushed their baby in a pram
A migrant who came to the UK on a student visa murdered his wife after tracking her to a women's refuge in Bradford. Habibur Masum, 26, stabbed Kulsuma Akter, 27, in broad daylight in April last year before walking away, leaving her 'bleeding to death in the gutter' and their seven-month-old son behind in a pram. Jurors heard the couple had met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after he obtained a student visa and enrolled on a Masters course to study marketing. The defendant, who gave evidence through a Bengali interpreter, told the trial they initially had a long-distance relationship as he lived in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, while studying and she lived in Oldham, Greater Manchester, with her brother. Masum followed Akter to the refuge in Bradford where she had been staying to escape him after he held a knife to her throat following an assault at the home they had moved to in Oldham. After finding her through her phone location, Masum was seen on CCTV in the days leading up to the fatal attack 'loitering, watching and waiting' in streets around the hostel, jurors heard. He sent her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him, before trying to lure her out by sending her fake messages from a GP practice pretending their son had an appointment and warning of 'increasingly dire consequences' if she did not attend. Bradford Crown Court heard Akter eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on April 6 last year after Masum updated his Facebook page, falsely claiming to be in Spain. As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her, the trial heard. Stephen Wood KC, prosecuting, told jurors Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer her and the pram away before pulling a knife from his jacket and launching the 'brutal attack' when he realised she was not coming with him. CCTV footage of the attack, played during the trial, showed that Masum stabbed her at least 25 times, put her on the ground and kicked her 'as a final insult' before lifting her head and cutting her throat. Mr Wood said the 'smiling killer' then calmly walked through Bradford city centre and was seen on CCTV grinning as he got on a bus, 'believing at that point he was getting away'. Jurors heard that Masum then travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury and was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for 'lockjaw'. During the trial, Masum refused to watch footage of the attack, but jurors heard that he had requested to see it during his first police interview, with Mr Wood saying he wanted to see what officers 'had on him'. When he gave evidence, Masum said he did not remember killing his wife and had taken a knife with him intending to stab himself in front of her if she did not 'listen to him'. He broke down in tears as he claimed to have 'lost control' when Akter told him there would be no shortage of people willing to replace him as a father to their son. But Mr Wood said his tears 'were as fake as his claims of self-harm' and that 'the only person Habibur Masum feels sorry for is himself'. He said antagonising Masum was 'the very last thing Kulsuma would do' as she knew what he was capable of. Mr Wood said the relationship between Masum and Akter was 'an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour'. Jurors heard that in August 2022, Masum was found by police at a tram station, where he had stayed all night after an argument with Akter. He was taken to hospital where he told a doctor that 'when he fights with her, he feels like he is going to kill her'. The pair moved into a house in Oldham together in September 2022. In July 2023, Akter went to stay with her brother because of Masum's controlling behaviour, leading him to threaten to harm himself with a knife before she returned. On Nov 23 that year, he became jealous over a 'completely innocuous' message she received from a male colleague, grabbing her face, slapping her and pulling her hair. The court heard he told her: 'I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me.' The following day, he went into their bedroom carrying a knife and held it to her throat, jurors were told. Akter's sister-in-law called the police and Masum was arrested, with Akter deciding to leave him and being moved to the Bradford refuge by Oldham social services in January last year. Masum denied the November incident and claimed Akter had fabricated a domestic violence case against him as a way to stay in the UK, while he wanted to return to Bangladesh. The court heard that while Akter was at the refuge, Masum sent her a photo of the front of the building with a message saying: 'I know that you are living in this place. I knew from the first day you moved here. 'If I had any wish to kill you, I could have from the first day. You do not know what you have lost but one day you will understand. Nobody will love you like I do.' The court heard Akter's social worker arranged for her to be rehoused and she was due to move on April 8, but in the meantime, she heard from Masum's brother that he was in Spain, and 'felt safe to leave the refuge' on the day she was killed. Masum had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. On Friday, he was found guilty of the more serious charge, as well as one charge of assault, one count of making threats to kill and one charge of stalking. He pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in public.
Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
British students hoping to study in US warned about online posts
Students applying to US universities should be extremely cautious on social media, experts have warned, amid reports of visas being rejected while immigration officials comb through posts. British sixth-formers accepted by US universities are reporting disruption in applications for student visas, which were suspended and then reinstated by President Trump. One consultant advised British school-leavers to consider starting degrees at branch campuses of American universities if visas were not processed in time. Applicants must now make their social media profiles public and officials have been ordered to scour through content dating back five years, meaning British students' posts from the age of 12 could be scrutinised for possible threats or 'hostile attitudes'. Education and legal experts said it reinforced the need for teenagers to be extremely cautious about what they post on social media. • I'm a Brit at Harvard — what Trump's doing is scary and dehumanising The US State Department says foreign nationals applying for student and exchange visitor visas should make their social media profiles public so it can comprehensively vet and identify visa applicants who 'pose a threat to US national security'. A federal judge has temporarily delayed issuing a ruling on whether the Trump administration can block international students bound for Harvard University from entering the country. Peter Adediran, digital media rights Solicitor at PAIL Solicitors, said that some students would self-censor or even not have social media, as a result. The measures risked infringing upon the right to freedom of speech enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and might also conflict with the Human Rights Act, he said. 'Students, being aware that sharing or being monitored for politically sensitive content may complicate their visa applications, are either not going to have social media accounts or will sensitise about what they discuss and post, which is extensive surveillance and a repression of international students,' he said. 'Intrusions into students' private lives could potentially lead to discrimination against international students due to their political beliefs or affiliations. 'Students should be removing any posts that could be deemed politically sensitive. Alternatively, they could have social media accounts that reflect a politically neutral position.' • Harvard can continue accepting foreign students, judge rules Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: 'Everyone should be constantly aware of the fact that anything you put on social media is there for ever, even if you delete it. It's depressing if something you think at the age of 16 can affect your life and career'. He added: 'Telling people to delete social media to get a place at university is completely contrary to what higher education is about: letting people speak freely. It's utterly perverse. If you can't make mistakes when you're young, when can you?' Robert, a British student at Yale is back in the UK for the summer working at a school and helping students with US applications for next year. He said the application process was already complex without the added visa problem. 'It's been tough for students and for universities who are getting updates about visa changes only at the same time as the media, then trying to figure out what the government is doing,' he added. 'We're in the dark, Yale students were concerned because of comments made by the US government about current visa holders so there's a feeling that everything is falling under investigation. 'For those applying this year, it's been bittersweet, getting a place is an amazing opportunity then, bam! You can't get a visa. It's nerve-racking.' David Feinburg runs an education consultancy in New York that gives advice to overseas students applying to US universities. He said some universities were advising students to start their degrees at branch campuses outside the US if their visas were not processed in time. Boston and North Eastern universities both have branches in the UK. 'My advice to students is to be very careful on social media,' he said. 'You always want to be careful anyway.' This was echoed by Iain Mansfield, a former Department for Education adviser and head of education at Policy Exchange think tank, who said: 'When you go on social media, whatever you put up is there to stay for a long time and can be seen by future employers. And now by those considering your visa. It's an important lesson for young people. 'This may be a bit of a lifeline for British universities which are an obvious alternative and are very highly regarded, without the extra hurdles for the US. Some British students who thought of going to the US will be staying local.'
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
US tightens monitoring of social media accounts of foreign students applying for visa
President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday ordered the resumption of student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting in a bid to identify any applicants who may be hostile towards the United States, according to an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters. US consular officers are now required to conduct a "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who "bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles," said the cable, which was dated June 18 and sent to US missions on Wednesday. On May 27, the Trump administration ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants, saying the State Department was set to expand social media vetting of foreign students. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said updated guidance would be released once a review was completed. The June 18 dated cable, which was sent by Rubio and sent to all US diplomatic missions, directed officers to look for "applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States." The cable, which was first reported by Free Press, also authorised the consular officers to ask the applicants to make all of their social media accounts public. "Remind the applicant that limited access presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity," the cable said. The move follows the administration's enhanced vetting measures last month for visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose, in what a separate State Department cable said would serve as a pilot program for wider expanded screening. Online presence The new vetting process should include a review of the applicant's entire online presence and not just social media activity, the cable said, urging the officers to use any "appropriate search engines or other online resources". During the vetting, the directive asks officers to look for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant. "For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities," the cable says, adding that may be a reason for ineligibility. Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, including students, because they got involved in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities. Those activities include support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza. A Tufts University student from Turkey was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after co-writing an opinion piece criticising her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza. She was released from custody after a federal judge granted her bail. Trump's critics have said the administration's actions are an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Fewer appointments? While the new directive allows posts to resume scheduling for student and exchange visa applicants, it is warning the officers that there may have to be fewer appointments due to the demands of more extensive vetting. "Posts should consider overall scheduling volume and the resource demands of appropriate vetting; posts might need to schedule fewer FMJ cases than they did previously," the cable said, referring to the relevant visa types. The directive has also asked posts to prioritise among expedited visa appointments of foreign-born physicians participating in a medical programme through exchange visas, as well as student applicants looking to study in a US university where international students constitute less than 15 per cent of the total. At Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest US university on which the administration has launched a multifront attack by freezing its billions of dollars of grants and other funding, foreign students last year made up about 27 per cent of the total student population. The cable is asking the overseas posts to implement these vetting procedures within five business days.
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
What are the changes to student and employer-sponsored visas starting July 1?
The new student visa application fee is AUD $2,000, up from $1,600. There are also changes to the salary or income threshold for the skilled stream, and a new minimum amount will be introduced. Know the differences between the Core Skills Occupation List and other skilled occupation lists. 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
