Q Manivannan, who was elected to Holyrood while holding a temporary student visa, says the new permission means Scotland remains home. Opposition parties argue it still falls short of the full parliamentary term.
Green MSP Q Manivannan has been granted a graduate visa by the Home Office, allowing them to remain in the UK for a further three years. Mr Manivannan, 30, was elected for Edinburgh and Lothians East in May while holding only a temporary student visa. The MSP was later the subject of criticism over remarks about rape in a video that spread widely online. The Conservatives and Reform UK have both raised concerns about the visa’s length.
The visa
Mr Manivannan said: “I recently received my graduate visa as planned, after going through an extractive and expensive immigration system – one where applicants are made to pay thousands of pounds for the right to live and work in Scotland.”
The MSP added: “My focus is where it always has been, on serving my constituents. This is my home and I’m not going anywhere.” Mr Manivannan listed work on fair pay in arts and culture, an artist minimum income, better access to childcare and opposition to AI hyperscale data centre applications in Edinburgh and beyond.
The graduate visa is expected to run until 2029, while the current Scottish Parliament is expected to sit until 2031. Mr Manivannan has previously said they plan to apply for a Global Talent visa, which could offer another route to remain. The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.
Earlier this year, Mr Manivannan fundraised to pay for a new visa. The MSP’s salary at Holyrood is £77,711. Mr Manivannan’s entry in the Scottish Parliament’s register of interests lists a property in India valued between £200,001 and £250,000, which is declared as generating no income.
Political reaction
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr called the situation “an electoral con”. He said: “The Scottish Greens showed contempt for voters by putting forward a candidate whose permission to remain in the UK did not cover the five-year term they were seeking.”
He continued: “A three-year graduate visa leaves that fundamental problem unresolved. Voters still have no certainty that Q Manivannan will be able to remain here throughout this Parliament. The electoral law that permits this shambles must change.”
Thomas Kerr, Reform UK’s deputy leader in Scotland, said the new visa “does not erase the absurdity of a foreign national with no indefinite right to remain voting on Scottish legislation”.
The dispute raises a distinction between immigration status and eligibility to stand for election. Opposition parties argue that voters should have greater certainty, but that is their political position and not a finding that Mr Manivannan was ineligible to stand.
The ‘rape is a spectrum’ remarks
After winning the seat, a 23-second video of Mr Manivannan speaking about rape went viral. In it, they said: “There definitely is a demonisation of rape, in the sense that it is a spectrum.”
Mr Manivannan responded that the clip had been “clearly misrepresented and taken out of context from a much longer interview”. They said: “As a survivor of sexual violence, who has spoken openly about my recovery, I am clear that we need to focus on reducing the likelihood of perpetrators of rape reoffending.”
“The point I made about demonisation was that not all rapists fit a stereotype, and that all kinds of men can and do commit it,” Mr Manivannan said. “The vast majority of sexual violence is from men who the victims know personally. Victims should be believed regardless of who the perpetrator was, and rapists should be punished in the strongest terms.”
The Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance criticised the remarks, arguing that there is no hierarchy of rape. The Scottish Greens condemned rape and sexual violence, and defended their member against what they described as misleading editing.
Mr Manivannan’s role
Mr Manivannan has been an MSP since 7 May 2026 and is the Scottish Greens’ culture spokesperson. They are also a deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. Mr Manivannan is a graduate of St Andrews University.
