Immigration Notes: June 2011

HTS: New Application form and Guidance

We have had a number of enquiries from colleges following the publication of the new HTS application form valid from 21st April and revisions to the HTS guidance on the UKBA website. The problem is the apparent conflict between the information on the HTS application form and UKBA website; and the HTS criteria as included in the new Sponsor Guidance, particularly in respect of refusals.
The application form and website both state that refusals should be counted under failure to enrol. However, the HTS criterion relating to failure to enrol, refers to students who have no intention to study and states that it applies where students have used a CAS issued by the sponsor and who have entered or remained in the UK but have not enrolled with within 1 month of the course commencing. This criterion clearly does not apply to students who have been refused, not least because they will not have entered the UK.

We have been in touch with the UKBA and asked them to confirm that refusals will not be considered by the UKBA as contributing to the 2 percent limit for students who fail to enrol in accordance with the criterion. UKBA replied that students that are refused are not counted under the failed to enrol percentage as this percentage is only for students issued with leave to enter or remain. The UKBA will also look at updating the information on the website.

The advice on the website also refers to students who have missed 10 expected contacts as being included in the figures for students who have failed to complete the course. However, the Sponsor Guidance allows for a student who has missed 10 contacts to be taken back by the college. We therefore also wrote to UKBA asking them to confirm that students who are taken back by a college will not count against a college for HTS purposes. UKBA replied that they will assess the application based on the last report received by the institution. Therefore if the last migrant reporting was ceased study, the student will count. However, if the last report indicates that the institution is now sponsoring the student, they won’t count.

Reporting refusals

We are also aware that a number of colleges are being told that they must now report refusals and asked the UKBA for their comments.

Paragraph 348 of the new Sponsor Guidance covers failure to enrol and states that a sponsor must report any student to whom a CAS has been issued and who fails to present themselves and enrol no later than 10 days after the end of the prescribed enrolment period. Previously, this was considered not to relate to refusals on the basis of advice from the UKBA that a student does not become a sponsored student until granted an entry clearance or leave to remain. However, the UKBA has now stated that once a CAS has been assigned and used in a leave application, reporting duties are conferred on the sponsor. Therefore refused students need to be reported as failed to enrol. We have some reservations about this advice and will be exploring it further but in the meantime Colleges will wish to note the formal advice provided by the UKBA.

Tier 2: Restricted COS

Under the new Tier 2 Rules, Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) were divided into two groups, restricted and unrestricted. Restricted COS are for people who are currently overseas who do not already have permission to live and work in the UK. A monthly limit is applied to the number of COS that can be issued. Whilst many employers were concerned that these arrangements would limit their ability to recruit new staff from abroad, the figures published by the UKBA for the first two months of the scheme (April and May) show that all applications have been successful and that a large number of the COS available were unused. Unused COS are rolled forward to the following month.

April 2011

The first monthly allocation took place on 11 April 2011. All valid applications received by 6 April 2011 were successful if they scored at least 32 points.
Certificates of sponsorship set aside from annual limit for allocation in April 4,200
Certificates of sponsorship granted in April allocation 1,019
Balance of certificates of sponsorship carried over to May 3,181

May 2011

The second monthly allocation took place on 11 April 2011. All valid applications received by 6 May 2011 were successful if they scored at least 32 points.
Balance of certificates of sponsorship carried over from April 3,181
Certificates of sponsorship set aside from annual limit for allocation in May 1,500
Certificates of sponsorship returned or reclaimed between 7 April and 5 May 2011 3

Certificates of sponsorship granted by exceptional consideration outside the monthly allocation, between 7 April and 5 May 2011 18
Certificates of sponsorship available for allocation in May 4,666
Certificates of sponsorship granted in May allocation 781
Balance of certificates of sponsorship carried over to June 3,885
Certificates of sponsorship available for allocation in June 5,365
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/sponsoringmigrants/employingmigrants/apply-for-restricted-cos/allocations/

Appeals

On 19th May the Immigration Minister announced that Section 19 of the UK Borders
Act 2007 would come into force on 23 May 2011. Section 19 restricts the evidence an appellant can rely on at such an appeal to that which is submitted to and considered by the UK Border Agency in support of an application. Section 19 will restrict the type of new evidence that can be taken into account by the Tribunal. The UKBA claims that around two-thirds of PBS appeals allowed by the Tribunal are due to the submission of further evidence at appeal. The Government sees this as a misuse of the appeals system as a free second application process and stated that it is not right that the taxpayer should foot the administrative and appeals bill where this information should have been put forward as part of the original application or where a second application including all the necessary information (for which we will charge) is the most appropriate route to securing a grant of leave.

The Commencement Order will come into force on 23 May and will apply to all appeals heard for the first time against refusals of applications to remain in the UK under the Points
Based System, regardless of the date that appeal was lodged. Appeals that have been part or fully-heard by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) by this date will not be affected.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/wms-section-19.pdf

The changes will clearly make some refusals less appealable and place a greater onus on applicants and sponsors to ensure that applications are correct in the first place.


Independent Chief Inspector report on Scotland and Northern Ireland

On 20th May, John Vine CBE QPM, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, published three reports focusing on the UKBA’s operations in Scotland and Northern Ireland: border operations, countering abuse of the Common Travel Area, and the Agency’s representation at first-tier appeals in Scotland. Full details can be found via the following link.
http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/news/

British Council to introduce “Education Intelligence”

British Council will unveil its plans for a global service devoted to international higher education at the NAFSA 2011 Annual Conference which is held in Vancouver, Canada, from 29 May – 3 June 2011. This market intelligence service aims to provide research and analysis about trends in international higher education to policymakers, education providers and individuals. This will help education providers to know more about the trends in student mobility flows and current national policies in order to make good decisions.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8470025.htm

Veristat Services

Student Visa applications

We are also increasingly providing a number of colleges with visa services for all of their students at discounted rates as a means of reducing the number of refusals. With each CAS worth on average £5000, it makes good financial sense not to waste CAS on refusals. Colleges also want to maintain low refusal rates for HTS applications. For further information on how we can help you in this area, including with applications for student visitor visas, contact us via our website at www.studentvisasuk.co.uk

Student Recruitment: Turkey and South America

We are currently inviting expressions of interest in student recruitment fairs in August in Turkey; September in Brazil; and October in Argentina. Full details of the fair service we operate can be found at http://www.veristat.co.uk/studentrecruitment.aspx. We also appreciate that each institution has different requirements so we are more than happy to fit our services to meet your needs. Should you require any further details or wish to book a place on any of the you can visit the link above or email us at enquiries@veristat.co.uk or call on 0161 247 8632.

HTS applications and immigration support

For support in complying with UKBA requirements, including applications for Highly Trusted Sponsor status, see our website www.veristat.co.uk and contact us at enquiries@veristat.co.uk

Veristat provides a wide range of services to education providers through compliance audits, advice packages, assessment of intent and recruitment. Please contact us for a no commitment discussion if you think you would benefit from any of these services enquiries@veristat.co.uk