Pregnant Foreign Students

[Jibby123]

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.

I think the point is if they miss 10 classes their visa is revoked, no? Nothing to do with having a baby.

Having a baby will probably cause you to miss 10 classes. Not necessarily but most likely. There should be exemptions for the pregnant and even those who fall sick. In these cases missing classes is completely out of their control.

Is this a real issue or a hypothetical one though? YOu say these students aren't beign treated in a humane way. How so? Presumably they have time to liase with their universities when they find themselves pregnant, and put plans into place for a leave of absence? I had dd at university, it wasn't a problem if I wanted to take time off (I didn't in the end, but it was perfectly possible for me to have taken a year off). If they're not studying due to having a baby, and need the time off, where's the problem with no longer having that visa if you can no longer fulfil the requirements? It would be no different in that respect to a British student taking time off to have a baby. I'd have stopped being a student for that year, and I wouldn't have been entitled to grants and loans, because I wasn't studying.

When I was working in an advice centre at a university it was entirely possible for students on a student visa to arrange a leave of absence whilst remaning registered at the university and temporarily changing category of visa if necessary (but that was back in the day of FLRS and FLRO).

If this is a real issue affecting you I recommend that you talk to other student welfare advisors at the university concerned.

If you consider how much the foreign student has to pay to come and study in the UK then you will understand why withdrawal of a visa could be traumatic. Taking time off means returning to their countries.

I am not advocating allowing a pregnant foreign student to stay on perpetually if they cannot attend studies but for their to be a more flexible system and not the 10 classes you are out one.

It is certainly not the same as that of a British student because the British student does not have to grapple with immigration and as much financial issues.

The problem is with the removal of the student from the country simply because they had a baby. A student that clearly cannot carry on with their studies should have there visas withdrawn but not those who still want to continue.

It is no longer possible to change visa status. A leave of absence is tantamount to removal from the country.

There a rules for a reason. There are problems and hurdles for many pregnant women, foreign or not. It's about dealing and or excepting them whether you like them or not.

Look, there are conditions on visas for education, if you are smart enough to get into uni, then you should know the consequences of your non conformation to this conditions.
If you study and need a visa to do so and then become ill, or pregnant and miss classes then why should you get to stay?
You won't be complying to the conditions on the visa, i think that is simple enough.
I don't see why there should be any special treatment for pregnant foreign students, you are here to study, if your not doing that, then your visa is invalid.
This is a strange post

Surely you would need to go home though if pregnant? And reapply afterwards?

When you apply for a visa, there is no rule that states that you should not to get pregnant. If that is clearly stated at the onset then the consequences will be justified.

Do you think it is okay to attract women to come and study in the UK then withdraw the visa when they get pregnant?

If it was a male foreign student whose wife or girlfriend gets pregnant, there are no consequences. They are allowed to carry on with their studies. Is this really fair to the women?

You're making an issue where there isn't one. Anyone who comes on a study visa and ends up not studying, for whatever reason, will have that visa removed. It's fair enough. It's not at all sexist. What if the student got ill, seriously enough to stop studies? Presumably the same rules would apply, man or woman.

A woman who misses 10 classes is not seriously sick. She should be allowed some concessions to deliver her baby and then return to school.

Even illegal immigrants are not deported within such a short time frame if they have a baby. Why should a student who is in the country legally be treated in such a manner?

Isn't it missing 10 pre-set contact points within a year without explanation? I would think that a pregnant student would have plenty of time to discuss their situation with student services and determine the options for a leave of absence or whether the student wishes to attempt continuous studies and what are the implications on their immigration status.

I believe each University handles the contact points and other details in their own way. If you are or know someone being affected by this, they should speak with people in their University.

You begin to see the point of this thread.

Miss 10 contact points, even for baby delivery, your visa is withdrawn.

You will be directed to return back to your country and then reapply for leave of entry even if all you missed was 11 contact points.

You can not apply for leave of absence or anything of the sort.

It just seems cruel.

But you would be here to study - not to have babies. If you got sick and could not make the contacts you would be expected to go home.

I know most of you may be averse to immigrants but look at the issue from that of a woman and a mother and not from an immigration standpoint.

Women get pregnant at work and they are given concessions. In every area of British existence, pregnant women are given consideration. Getting pregnant is not always planned but it happens.

Just because a woman is not a British subject is no reason for her to be treated any less.

Men have babies with other women but do not suffer the same consequences. We always advocate equality in the way men and women are treated, why not when it concerns immigrants. Maybe foreign male students who get other women pregnant while they are here to study should have there visa withdrawn as well. At least the visa they got was to study not to make a family. Incredible!

If women here cannot see this, simply because we are talking about immigrants, then there are real issues.

My understanding is that contact points are spread sparsely throughout an academic year, and some Universities only have a total of 10 in a year. These contact points can also include items like handing in an assignment, for which extensions can be obtained (and childbirth seems like a very reasonable reason for an extension!). It seems it would be difficult to miss 10 points without explanation meaning many months of noncommunicatation especially if a student speaks to the University beforehand with that explanation.

If British people go overseas they have to respect the laws of the country. Britain has and done alot more for immigrants than any other country overseas does for them.

Anyway, like I said earlier, you are probably seeing this from an immigration viewpoint and that is not what this is about. It is difficult to separate xenophobia from the real issues especially where immigrants are concerned.

If this was about a British woman who is told she can not go on with her job because she got pregnant, you will be up in arms especially if the men are not affected.

Mind you, not all who come to study in the UK are planning to settle here. All I'm saying is that there should be consideration for pregnant women who want to return to their studies after delivery.

Pregnancy is not a sickness.

I am an immigrant to another country. I have to pay for health insurance. I have to learn other languages as no one will make me a special exception at the town hall and provide me documents in English. I moved knowing that I had no immediate right to any benefits or free medical treatment - that this right is earned by paying taxes or paying insurance. I am an EU citizen living in another EU country. This is exactly how it should be. The rules are clear.

If you come on a student visa to STUDY, having babies plays no part in this. It is not part of the deal.

Heck - if I pitched up in the UK tomorrow morning and claimed I was destitute and homeless - clutching my UK passport - I still wouldn't have any immediate entitlement to help.

Having babies is not a situation you can prescribe.

So if you come on a work visa to WORK, you can not have babies?

Or if you come on an investor visa to INVEST, you should not have babies?

Why should students be excluded from the same rights accorded to other visa categories? Surely you know that students can be of any age not just teenagers.

No one is asking for help or handouts. All I am saying is for the rules to give room for the mother to return to study without having their visa withdrawn.

These students are not entitled to any benefits or public funds. They are not asking for entitlements.

I agree with Portofino. The student has the option of an abortion and continuing her studies or returning to her home country.

British students often have to take a leave of absence from their studies if they get pregnant. A uni course is not like a job. If you don't attend lectures then you can't the qualification. End of.

Unis are usually very sympathetic. The girl would be offered a leave of absence and return to her studies when she is ready. Yes, it is expensive have to repeat a year, but this is life with an unplanned pregnancy.

Because you are here to STUDY and have to turn up to do that. If you can have a baby and still turn up - then no problem. The same thing would apply if you were working.