Pregnant Foreign Students

[Jibby123]

I started this discussion in another thread. Since it was getting heated I decided to move it here. The synopsis is "Can anyone tell me why foreign students who get pregnant are being treated like criminals within the immigration.

The immigration system allows for the withdrawal of visa from any student who misses 10 classes after having a baby. This is scandalous.

Are foreign mothers inferior to other mothers or does pregnancy affect them in a different way?

Some argue that a visa is given for studies and not to have babies but we know that pregnancies do not necessarily as planned especially when students are allowed to bring their spouses along with them as dependants.

Just because you are a foreign student is not a ban on sex.

This situation puts a lot of pressure on pregnant foreign students and is causing them to go through harrowing experiences while pregnant as they worry about their visa status and are forced to attend studies even when they are not fit to. The pregnancy alone is hard enough.

Pregnancy is not a disease, not a crime and certainly not an immigration offence.

WE need to raise this issue to the government so that they can treat pregnant foreign students in a more humane manner."

Here is a link to the original thread and the points that were made.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/1413246-Pregnant-Foreign-Students?pg=1

i think the idea is to study here, not to get pregnant. If they miss classes, they are not students, are they?

In all fairness, if they are there on a student visa, there are obviously rules that must be followed regarding attendance.

I don't think this is an attack on pregnant foreign students, but rather a fair rule; if your attendance isn't good enough, you lose your student visa. The point is to come over to study, and that is what they have been granted permission to do. If they fail to attend enough lessons/lectures, then they are not abiding by the terms of their visa.

You are looking at this from an immigration point of view not from that of a woman.

Why should a foreign male student be able to father children while studying without losing there visas while a female foreign student has to lose hers?

Equality has been won for women in many spheres of life but in this case it seems being a woman would cost you dearly.

They are here to study. Not get pregnant. I agree with the government. If a British student got pregnant and couldn't keep up with thei studies they would leave uni. So if your on a student visa and are not studying why should you stay? Your other thread went this way to. You can't start again here if you don't like others opinions

Because unfortunately its biology. Men can't get pregnant, woman can. That's life. And that's why in some things we can't be equal. It has it's advantages to

If you aren't studying anymore then how can you have a student visa?

Surely if a woman wanted to continue with the pregnancy she would return home to have the baby and then continue her studies when she is able to?

OP, followed you over from the other thread. I think a lot of people just don't get it. Not sure if that's due to a lack of empathy, a lack of knowledge of the system or perhaps a bit of both.

2wwmadness - would you apply your biology argument to the workplace?

So we should admit that women are unequal to men simply because they get pregnant. So why do we fight for promotions and equal pay etc?

In every facet of life we fight for women to be given extra considerations because of child bearing unfortunately those considerations are not to be applied to foreign students.

Nobody is saying that she should stay if she isn't studying any more. Merely that she might miss a few sessions and an over-anxious university might feel that it had to report her to the ukba, when she might actually have every chance of completing her degree.

Yawn
Why not accept that if you get pregnant and do not comply with your visa, you have to leave? Either you are here to study, or you are not. A male student who didn't comply with his student visa would also have to leave. Its not sexist or xenophobic, its the very simple rules

Yes. It does apply to the workplace to a certain extent. We are not equal. That has its pros and it's cons for both. And I agree to a certain extent rights should be the same. But for other things they shouldn't. This should be in feminism. I avoid those boards coz of the extreamism. Unfortunately. Life isn't fair.

wherearemysocks, the argument is why do they have to go through the whole visa application process all over simply because they had a baby. If they are allowed to go have a baby and come back after a specified time period, that could be sensible. To withdraw a visa simply on the back of child birth is wrong.

Mrspeter. Amen.

Yes. It does apply to the workplace to a certain extent. We are not equal. That has its pros and it's cons for both. And I agree to a certain extent rights should be the same. But for other things they shouldn't. This should be in feminism. I avoid those boards coz of the extreamism. Unfortunately. Life isn't fair.

I give up.

OP, do you think it could have something to do with collecting the hefty visa fees second time round?

A male worker who does not take a year or two off pregnant has to accept equal considerations from a woman who does. Many new mothers are allowed to work from home in circumstances where male workers won't be. The system already allows for some level of discrimination in favour of women why not in this case?

I still believe once immigrant is mentioned all reasoning flies out of the window.

I still believe once immigrant is mentioned all reasoning flies out of the window.

So true. :(

I am with you actually OP. 10 classes is about 2 weeks isnt it? Not exactly maternity leave. Replace student visa with work visa. If a working woman only got 2 weeks mat leave before losing her status there would be uproar.

Maybe pregnant studes should be obligated o have an abortion.

Honey, it is all about the money and it is unfortunate that it is the women that has to suffer this.

Hefty visa fees and the institution collects new annual dues.

bringme, someone suggested abortion in the original thread and I was disgusted by it. You are right people on work visas don't lose their visas if they take 6 months maternity leave to have their children. Why give a student 2 weeks? Are students Wonder Women?

Firstly, having a baby at University isn't impossible. At all.

Secondly, I'm an immigrant and I would expect to keep within the parameters of my visa in order to stay in the country of my own choice. Nobody forced me to come here, and I don't think anybody forced anyone on a student visa to study in the UK either.

TheCat, the parameters for issuing visas does not say you should not get pregnant. It is the consideration after delivery that is the problem.

I dont think it is about the money for the institutions, tbh. At least, not about the individual student's tuition fees. I think it's more about the bigger picture of keeping their license to that they can keep on raking in all international student tuition fees.

And I think the money is a side issue for the government too. After all, the economy won't benefit in the longer term if international students stop coming.

I think it's more about politics myself. Cameron promised to do something about net migration, because that sort of talk seems to win votes. Having realised that he can't do anything about European immigrants, and that the business community won't let him do much about work visas, student visas are just an easy target. Most people won't have a clue as to what it actually means, they will just think it's good that the government is "tightening up" on immigration.

Obviously, some students have abused their visas and have deliberately got pregnant instead of studying. The rules have therefore been tightened to try to prevent this. Some students who have a genuine "accidental" pregnancy are suffering the consequences by having their visas withdrawn. Simple.

Are you pregnant Jibby? Was it planned?

Jibby, I take your point about fathering a child over here, absolutely. Is the problem that once the child is born over here it becomes a Uk citizen by default, and therefore the visa effectively stops being a student visa and that mother receives permanent leave to remain?

Honest question - I know very little about the immigration rules to the UK.