Immigration Notes June 2010

Government Plans for Immigration

References to immigration in the Queen’s Speech were limited to: “My government will limit the number of non-European Union economic migrants entering the United Kingdom and the detention of children for immigration purposes.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/queens-speech/2010/05/queens-speech-limits-on-non-eu-migration-50599


Further information is available in the new coalition government’s immigration plan which can be found at http://www.hmg.gov.uk
"The Government believes that immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy, but that it must be controlled so that people have confidence in the system. We also recognise that to ensure cohesion and protect our public services, we need to introduce a cap on immigration and reduce the number of non-EU immigrants.

• We will introduce an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work. We will consider jointly the mechanism for implementing the limit.

• We will end the detention of children for immigration purposes.

• We will create a dedicated Border Police Force, as part of a refocused Serious Organised Crime Agency, to enhance national security, improve immigration controls and crack down on the trafficking of people, weapons and drugs. We will work with police forces to strengthen arrangements to deal with serious crime and other cross-boundary policing challenges, and extend collaboration between forces to deliver better value for money.

• We support E-borders and will reintroduce exit checks.

• We will apply transitional controls as a matter of course in the future for all new EU Member States.

• We will introduce new measures to minimise abuse of the immigration system, for example via student routes, and will tackle human trafficking as a priority.

• We will explore new ways to improve the current asylum system to speed up the processing of applications."


UKBA Policy Post Election

The UKBA continues to remain silent on any detailed policy or operational proposals and no further information is available on when the restrictions will be lifted for visa applicants in North India.

Following the election of the new government, the UKBA has also removed from its website all news stories published before April 2010 together with information about UKBA’s strategies and aims under the previous government. This content can, however, be viewed in the national archives which shows the UKBA website as it appeared at approximate 2 week intervals during 2009 and 2010. This is particularly useful for reference to previous guidance, for example guidance that was applicable at the time of a student’s arrival. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100503160445/http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/

Identity Cards

The Government has announced that it intends to scrap the National Identity Card scheme within its first 100 days through one of the first pieces of legislation it places before Parliament. However, references are to British Citizens under the scheme. Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals (ICFN) were introduced in response to a European regulation relating to a revised format for residence permits which the then government chose to adopt as a starting point for a wider national scheme. It seems likely therefore that ICFN will continue despite the abandonment of the National ID Cards scheme.

Agents

The BBC reported (13th May 2010) that the British Council had for the first time brought together countries including the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Irish Republic to discuss “unscrupulous” agents assisting bogus students to come to the UK and other countries. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10106279.stm
Whilst the vast majority of agents are legitimate, there is concern about a small minority providing falsified documents or otherwise coaching students to get around immigration requirements. The British Council is reported as saying that there needs to be an international approach to tackling fraud.

The BBC reported that Pat Killingley, the British Council's director of higher education, said how competitor countries need to work together. "We have common interests - we've all built up reputations for quality in higher education that we want to protect," Universities and colleges could not operate without agents, she said, and their role was likely to increase. As such, it was vital that the small proportion of dishonest agents were stopped. Countries will share information about dishonest agents and they will try to support legitimate agents.

In subsequent correspondence with Veristat, Pat said that the British Council were still at a very early discussion stage with national agencies in other countries. Initially the intention was to exchange information and identify any specific areas where a joint approach might be beneficial. The timescale was rather longer than the BBC article implied and nor did she think that the British Council would see its role as being one of regulating agents on the ground.

Although the British Council does not accredit or formally recognise any agents, they do provide a number of services to assist agents working with UK institutions. Agents are also encouraged to register on the Education UK website subject to validation from UK institutions. We recently saw a UKBA action plan for a B rated education provider which included using British Council registered agents as an action point.

The UKBA’s own good practice guidance highlights the use of agents as one of the key areas that education providers should address in their recruitment of overseas students and this is again reflected in the majority of action plans we are now seeing. In particular the UKBA recommends that education providers should ensure that agents understand their (the education providers) responsibilities as a sponsor; that education providers require agents to attend events intended to provide information on the institution and the course being provided ; that they incentivise and penalise agents’ performance through the phased payment or withholding of commission; and terminate arrangements with agents who do not meet their standards.

Note also that the final sub-paragraph of paragraph 281 of the Sponsor Guidance (04/10) under Reporting Duties requires a sponsor to provide details of any third party or intermediary, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad, that has assisted it in the recruitment of migrant students. This includes agents and also requires the sponsor to inform the UKBA of any agents previously notified who the sponsor stops using.