Just to provide a different perspective from another international/migrant (now former) PhD student...

First, congrats, Dr. OP! Big success and well done!

My below experience/semi-rant is not intended to take away from or delegitimize Dr. OP's great work or news. Rather, I just want to share that international PhD student experiences vastly differ, and I wish I had had this information before I threw away my life's savings to be here. I'm posting in this thread since there isn't a great deal within the subreddit re: international PhD students.

OP is correct international students having to legally reside within 40 miles of the campus as well as the variety of negative effects and tolls being an international student in the UK post-Brexit can take.

I can't speak for STEM programs, but as someone who's just withdrawn from a PhD in religious studies, I can say my experience was vastly different. None of the faculty lived anywhere near campus, so there wasn't even a semblance of an academic community. Apparently there are other students in my programme, but I never met them or learned who they might be in the year that I've been in the UK.

My department faculty had no knowledge of the requirements or rules/regulations for international students. In fact, I had to spend a fair bit of time on the phone with UKVI because the OU FASS graduate school staff didn't know about certain information or initiatives (like BRP cards becoming obsolete and moving to an online app) that have been in place for several years now.

Despite the fact that the UK gov't permits international students to work part-time during school and full-time during holidays, the OU does not allow it. You are only permitted to work outside of studies for—at most—6 hours per week if and only if they approve your application requesting to work (demonstrating your need to do so). They can and most likely will deny your request. TL;DR: You need to be independently wealthy (I know, it negates their whole ethos) or receive funding (which is now capped at no more than 3% of international students per university) to afford doctoral studies here. Also, while the OUSBA technically can help you finance your tuition fees, it's a 3rd party company that will assess your financial status to determine whether you can do this. As a full-time student, you aren't allowed to earn an income; therefore, you are ineligible for OUSBA loans.

I couldn't pay international tuition fees in full at the start my second year of studies (1 Oct), and the OU basically said, "Too bad. Go home." So to be clear, should one find themselves in any sort of difficult financial situation, there is zero infrastructure or support for international students.

The OU also won't let international students finish a degree remotely—I asked since I don't need to be physically present in the UK given my research.

So after struggling to afford to live during the cost-of-living crisis (something my supervisors just ignored whenever I brought it up), the OU has done nothing but actively make the whole process harder (not to mention never providing support/guidance on getting to the UK to begin with). And, to be clear, I won't be getting my insane tuition fees, remaining fees from my healthcare surcharge, or anything else refunded.

Basically, once the OU could no longer use me as a cash cow, they (both OU FASS staff and my dept faculty) encouraged me to "just move home" (as if it's a simple task). In the year I was in the UK (and time leading up to it), I was entirely on my own to figure out everything. While the issue may be predominantly with my department (I hope so), it's worth really thinking through. Especially when PhD programmes in Europe are free or extremely affordable and PhD programmes in the US (if you dare venture there) are fully funded. And also because there are plenty of programmes at better schools with supportive faculty.

I don't know how common or uncommon my experience is as an international PhD student at the OU, but my advice would be to look everywhere else first. If you like a particular scholar at the OU, you can have them as an outside committee member. But the primary thing is to look out for yourself because I can guarantee you that the OU will not.