The United Kingdom today announced a partial lifting of the ban on students visas from the first of next month in north India. The announcement will come as big relief among thousands of genuine students who are at an advanced stage of enrolling at British universities.<br/><br/>Announcing this, the UK Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills, Mr Pat McFadden, said in London that this suspension will be lifted for all students wanting to study higher education courses, whether foundation degrees, undergraduate or postgraduate.<br/><br/>He, however, added that the temporary suspension will remain in place for all those wanting to study at lower levels but this is also under review and will be lifted as soon as possible.<br/><br/>Mr. Pat McFadden said, the suspension was done in response to a huge surge in applications over a very short period of time. Student visas from north India were suspended on the 1st of this month, causing concern among thousands of students, their families and also British universities who depend on high fee-paying international students for a substantial part of their revenue.<br/><br/>According to official figures, the direct value of students from India and other non-European Union countries to the UK economy is estimated at 8.5 billion pounds annually.