Despite arriving in the UK seven years ago as a French Erasmus student, Anne Gaillot fears she will still “never be good enough for England”.

Anne moved to the UK with the plan to stay permanently in 2019 after graduating from a Master’s degree programme in France. But since Brexit, even though she now has Indefinite Leave to Remain, Anne has found it is becoming more and more challenging to continue living here.

“I’ve noticed and experienced xenophobia here in Sheffield. People don’t really know where I come from and it can sometimes trigger them and lead to hostility,” Anne said.

Even after five years of living in the UK, Anne feels she has to repeatedly prove that she can work and live here.

She explained: “At my first job, I felt like even if I worked double the shifts my English colleagues did, It would just not be enough. It made me feel like I will never be good enough for England.”

Anne worries for international students today, who must navigate tough new visa restrictions to work and live in the UK.

She said: “It seems like everything is becoming more complicated. The amount of money they ask the international graduates to earn in order to be able to obtain a work visa is really high.”

Anne said she felt very fortunate when she started as assistant manager at the Forum, a kitchen and bar, in Sheffield.

She said: “I finally felt recognised for my hard work. I was lucky and I don’t know if all internationals have that luck.” 

Various experiences

Ray Omer, from Qatar, and Lucca Leal, from Brazil, are both physics students at the University of Sheffield, but because of differences in their immigration status they have had totally different experiences. While Ray has had residential status since 2018, Lucca has been on a Student Visa from 2020. 

Despite having resident status, Ray still struggles. He said: “Even if I have been living here for a quarter of my life, I still feel like I am not welcomed. I love the UK but the immigration laws make it hard. My parents moved from Qatar to England for their work thinking that it would be a great place to settle.”

For Lucca, who has hopes of becoming an academic in the UK, the announcement that the Skilled Worker Visa salary threshold would rise to £38,700 has thrown his future in the UK into doubt.

He’s now considering moving to another country. He explained: “The income that the government expects us to earn after graduation is just too high.” 

Lucca also has concerns for what this means for the country, saying: “I think a part of the reputation of UK universities is based on how well-known they are across the world. Having students coming from all around the globe surely helps. Why would the UK want to lose that?

“It’s not just international students that you could lose – in the physics department we have researchers and teachers from everywhere.”