Why counting foreign students as immigrants is wrong

Please can the grownups in the room explain to everyone that foreign students are not immigrants – they are customers (Trump is pushing students towards Britain – ministers, don’t let your immigration obsession stand in the way, 11 April). We don’t call tourists immigrants, so why should we call students that? They come, give us their money for the excellent service we provide, then go home – mostly, taking with them a lifelong positive attitude to the UK, our “soft power”. The only reason they were kept in the “immigrants” bracket was so that previous governments could cut their number easily, and then claim that they had reduced immigration. But the collateral damage to universities and the economy has been great. That was the attitude of previous governments – knowingly damaging the British economy to score cheap political points based on the falsehood that students are immigrants. Hans Heap Sheffield • An immigrant is someone who moves to another country with the intention of staying permanently. Most students intend to go back to their home country, where they have parents and other family members. They may stay on to do further studies, and many stay in the UK to gain some work experience, but will need a visa extension either way. That the government does not know how many people overstay their visa is a bigger problem, but that figure will include those who have arrived on all types of visa, not just students. Michael Peel London • Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.