Student visa holder can sit as the member of the Scottish Parliament

In an unprecedented intersection between immigration law and the Scottish Parliament, a foreign-national Student visa holder has been returned as a member of the Scottish Parliament in the May 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election.

Q Manivannan, an Indian citizen, has been formally declared as a member of the Scottish Parliament for the Edinburgh and Lothians East region, as one of the Scottish Green Party’s regional list members.

Manivannan is reported to hold an imminently expiring Student visa linked to their PhD at the University of St Andrews. On completion of their PhD, they will be able to apply for and receive a Graduate visa valid for the next three years. Scottish Parliamentary terms are fixed at five years.

How is this legally possible?

Despite not being a British citizen, Manivannan was eligible to be elected because of recent amendments to the Scotland Act 1998. Rather than setting out eligibility criteria to stand as a candidate, the Scotland Act 1998 sets out grounds under which a returned candidate will be disqualified from taking their seat in the Scottish Parliament or local government. Under this system, it is theoretically possible for an ineligible candidate to stand for election and succeed, but they would then immediately become disqualified from taking their seat.

Section 15(1)(b) of the Scotland Act 1998 sets out the disqualification grounds based on nationality by reference to the House of Commons’ nationality requirements. To stand in a UK parliamentary general election, a candidate must be a British citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland or a citizen of a Commonwealth country who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, or has indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Section 16 of the Scotland Act 1998 then adds some important exceptions to this. There has been some misreporting that Manivannan was able to be returned as a member of the Scottish Parliament due to being a Commonwealth citizen, but since 2020 Commonwealth citizenship has been irrelevant to candidacy rights for the Scottish Parliament and local government.

In 2020, the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 introduced amendments to the Scotland Act to extend candidacy rights to all foreign nationals, doing away with the previous Commonwealth citizenship distinction. The newly inserted sections 16(2A) and (2B) of the Scotland Act 1998 initially allowed for a foreign-national member of the Scottish Parliament or local government where they had indefinite leave to remain, pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or certain other types of exemption from immigration control.

It was not until the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 that candidacy rights were extended out to any foreign national with any form of leave to remain, whether limited or indefinite.

Following the 2025 amendments, the Scotland Act now reads:

(2A) A person is not disqualified from being a member of the Parliament merely because of section 3 of the Act of Settlement, provided the person—

(a) is resident in the United Kingdom, and

(b) meets one of the conditions mentioned in subsection (2B).

(2B) The conditions are that the person—

(a) is not a person who requires leave under the Immigration Act 1971 to enter or remain in the United Kingdom (excluding a person who does not require such leave by virtue only of section 8 of the Immigration Act 1971 (exceptions to requirement for leave in special cases)), or

(b) is such a person but for the time being has (or is, by virtue of any enactment, to be treated as having) any description of such leave.

There is no requirement that a returned member of the Scottish Parliament’s immigration permission covers a full five-year Parliamentary term, and there is no requirement that their immigration permission even offers a route to settlement.

What happens when the Graduate visa expires?

Where does all of this leave Manivannan at the end of their Graduate visa, three years into this parliamentary term? There is no bespoke visa route for foreign national elected officials. 

It has been reported that Manivannan intends to apply for a Global Talent visa, presumably under the academic/research peer review route as the holder of a PhD. 

Doesn’t holding an elected post breach Student visa conditions?

Lastly, to those left wondering how a Student visa holder can lawfully work as a member of the Scottish Parliament without breaching the conditions of their visa, the answer will be found in paragraph 6 of the immigration rules, which define work as:

“Work” has the same meaning as “Employment”, except that work does not include being party to an employment contract but not working.

“Employment” includes paid and unpaid employment, paid and unpaid work placements undertaken as part of a course or period of study, self-employment and engaging in business or any professional activity. Standing for or filling an elected post in local or devolved government or legislatures is not considered to be employment for the purposes of the immigration rules, and conditions restricting employment do not affect the ability to undertake such activities.

The carve-out of standing for or filling an elected post in local or devolved government or legislatures was introduced by HC 719 on 18 October 2022.

So there you have it. A Student visa holder can stand for, and be returned as, a member of the Scottish Parliament, and doing so does not breach the conditions of their visa.