A controversial Green MSP who sparked fury after saying “rape is a spectrum” has been handed a new visa by the Home Office. The Indian transgender activist, who stood for election in May without knowing he would be allowed to remain in the UK, claimed the new visa allows him to carry on living in Scotland for another three years. Mr Manivannan was pocketing £77,711 as an MSP in Holyrood even though he was elected while only holding a temporary student visa.He 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.”My focus is where it always has been, on serving my constituents. This is my home and I’m not going anywhere.”We have worked on a range of issues from ensuring fair work in arts and culture and establishing an artist minimum income, securing better and more flexible access to childcare, and standing steadfastly against AI hyperscale data centre applications in Edinburgh and beyond.”However, the visa extension does not ensure Mr Manivannan will be able to see out his full term in the Scottish Parliament. The St Andrews University graduate, who was privately educated before moving to Scotland, sparked fury after being embroiled in a series of rows. Q Manivannan launched a fundraising appeal despite receiving a £77,711 a year salary as an MSP | PAFollowing his victory in Edinburgh & Lothians East, a 23-second video of the Green MSP talking about rape went viral on social media.In the video, the 30-year-old said: “There definitely is a demonisation of rape, in the sense that it is a spectrum.”Responding to fury online, Mr Manivannan said: “This clip has been clearly misrepresented and taken out of context from a much longer interview.”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 legislation will return to the Scottish Parliament today | PA“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.“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 Green MSP, who pushed for Scottish taxpayers to fund reparations to the Palestinian people, was fundraising to pay for a new visa earlier this year despite receiving a bumper salary well-above the national average. He also owns a relatively expensive £250,000 home in India, with local estate agents listing four or five-bedroom detached villas with an accompanying garden and parking space in Chennai.Q Manivannan won a seat at Holyrood this month representing Edinburgh & Lothians East | GETTYMeanwhile, £250,000 would likely only stretch to a one-bedroom flat in Edinburgh.However, the 30-year-old’s visa update prompted concern from both the Tories and Reform UK.Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr said: “This was an electoral con. “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.The Scottish Greens made historic gains on Friday, winning constituency MSPs in a political first | PA”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.”Reform UK’s deputy leader in Scotland Thomas Kerr added that the new visa “does not erase the absurdity of a foreign national with no indefinite right to remain voting on Scottish legislation”. The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.