UK will be more welcoming to Indonesians after Brexit, ambassador says

British Ambassador to Indonesia Owen Jenkins says the United Kingdom will be more welcoming to Indonesians to study in Britain following the country's departure from the European Union, saying the UK will implement a new policy that will relax visa and stay permit requirements after Brexit takes place on Jan. 31.

Jenkins said the policy was in line with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's intention of making the UK more open and welcoming to tourists and students from across the globe.

“To Indonesians who are interested in traveling or studying in the UK, [the country] will be an even more open, welcoming and positive place for Indonesians than it has been in the past,” he said on Friday.

The British envoy gave assurances that nothing would change, except that Indonesian students would require a British visa to visit there, just as they previously required a Schengen visa to visit EU countries.

According to 2019 UK Immigration Statistics data, the UK government issued 2,997 student visas to Indonesians from the first quarter until the third quarter of 2019.

Indonesian students can study in Britain as long as they can pay their tuition fees or obtain a scholarship, such as from the government-backed Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) and UK-backed Chevening. (glh)

Editor’s note: Paragraph four in this article has been edited.