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.

Well said Honey. UKBA refuses a visa, the applicant appeals and UKBA fails to appear at the hearings handing over judgement to the appellant. Where is the common sense there?

I assumed in my initial post that you were a student in need of help and were being screwed over by your university. It seems that you aren't and want a wider debate so here are my thoughts:

The UK is no different to many other countries, rightly or wrongly.

Foreign students as residents have access to NHS care (including free contraception and access to termination services along with maternity services) but clearly no SMP unless they have a job. Same goes for home students. If you're not earning/haven't been warning in the UK the govt doesn't give you money. No JSA because you're not looking for work.

Leaves of absence can very often be arranged providing the student remains in contact. That may mean coming in with a small baby but better than losing the visa. Tutors and welfare advisors can be extremely accommodating - I know of one tutor who visited an undergrad in hospital (not pregnancy, broken pelvis) to enable them to keep up. Postgrads, particularly research, can be more flexible with timings. Taught postgrads are rarely longer than a year, which is usually Sept-May in class, and research supervision can be arranged to suit, an extension as a student at the university could be granted etc. Really for it have an impact there they'd need to be pregnant before the start of their course. Not ideal taking exams whilst heavily pregnant but that's the way it goes for many home students too. Plenty of warning and a bit of negotiation, particularly for committed students, will usually result in a compromise.

I agree that in most case the problem is with the interpretation of the rules but it is unfair to automatically deport a pregnant student and the government need to clarify the situation, although I don't think an explicit change in rules is called for. It would be perfectly acceptable to my mind to say that pregnancy is not 'permitted' (I can't think of a better way to phrase that) because then students would know where they stood, or to issue guidelines to universities to deal with pregnant students, neither of which calls for pressure on the govt but can be addressed directly to UKBA.

Universities have no interest in losing or discouraging international students but equally as someone else pointed out they need to keep their sponsoring ability. It is, however, up to the university to define what a contact is and how frequent that should be.

If you want pressure then a better pressure group to address this to would be the NUS, specifically the members of the exec in charge of welfare and international students.

I say this as a mother, as a foreigner in the country where I live and a university employee btw so I'm sympathetic to the issue but I think you're going about this the wrong way.

Flatbread that was harsh! I'm British born to immigrant parents so im certaintly not xenophobic! My point was there a rules for a reason if you can't change them what's the point of arguing about them.

My point was there a rules for a reason if you can't change them what's the point of arguing about them.

I am glad that not everyone in our society thinks like this. In your world, no injustice would ever get challenged.

I wonder how much you actually know about current immigration law. I know quite a lot, and would say that very little thought or reasoning has gone into some aspects of the legislation. The government has introduced some completely arbitrary changes without thinking through the consequences.

I would have thought it was entirely reasonable to discourage foreign students from having a baby in the middle of their course. It's hardly compatible.

But bonsoir the vast majority won't need discouraging - they have invested huge sums of money in their education, so won't interrupt it lightly. But accidents can and do happen.

You are more optimistic than I am as to students' common sense!

I am a UK citizen and I had a baby in the middle of a University degree.
I did not even ask for any concession. I made sure that I found a way to adhere to the rules and submitted all of my work in time. I did not request a single extension.
Had I decided not to continue keeping up with my course, I would not have been allowed to complete. I understood this so I made sure I kept on top of things. It was hard but clearly not impossible.

I don't see why foreign students should expect special treatment.

The thing that particularly gets my back up about this is the suggestion that pregnancy is something that just 'happens' to foreign students and is totally beyond the control of the parents. Therefore rules must be changed to accommodate them.

You get pregnant and then you evaluate your ability to cope with a baby in your life. If you cannot cope with a baby in conjunction with your current lifestyle, you take the appropriate course of action.

Why bonsoir? I know students in the US who had babies while studing. Some were mature students some were younger. It should be a woman's right to choose when to have babies and visa rules should not be draconian.

Hmmm.... someone is doing some research here I think...... and turning this lovely forum into a focus group....