Overview
- Ministers will make case-by-case exemptions so eligible dependants of Palestinian scholarship students can travel to the UK.
- Partners and children must qualify for student dependant visas, including proof of funds that meet living‑cost thresholds of roughly £7,600 in London and about £6,000 elsewhere.
- Roughly 75 Gazan students have arrived since evacuations began, and the new policy is intended to help remaining scholars reach the UK with their families.
- The change follows refusals by some students to leave without spouses or infants and lobbying from more than 100 cross-party MPs, with universities and the Refugee Council also raising concerns.
- UK officials coordinated departures with Israeli authorities and carried out biometric checks, with continuing fighting in Gaza complicating travel arrangements.