Tier 4
International students to face compulsory interviews
UKBA staff will be given new powers to refuse entry to any international students whose credibility remains in doubt after being interviewed.
Students who fail to turn up for the interview will also be refused entry to the UK if they fail to give a reasonable explanation.
The targeted overseas student interview programme, due to start on 30 July 2012, is expected to result in between 10,000 to 14,000 applicants for student visas being interviewed each year.
Universities need to be ready for UKBA inspections
Universities need to be ready for increased scrutiny from the UK Border Agency, including announced and unannounced visits to ensure compliance.
It is vital that all relevant departments are aware of the part they play in compliance and the importance of preserving the university's UKBA licence. Universities must be seen to be taking compliance seriously and making efforts to fulfil their sponsor duties.
Sponsor compliance should be part of normal procedures.
Home Affairs Select Committee's report on UKBA's backlog & Tier 4 recommendations
The Home Affairs Select Committee has announced that the UK Border Agency has a backlog of more than 275,000 failed migrants who need to be removed from the country.
The committee said it will take UKBA several years to clear the backlog and it was concerned that the agency may not have sufficient resources to do so.
The backlog includes:
- Approx. 150,000 migrants who had been refused permission to stay in the UK
- 21,000 asylum cases
- 3,900 foreign offenders living in the community
- 57 foreign criminals released in 2006 without being considered for deportation and who had not yet been traced
- 80,000 asylum applications
- 21,500 immigration cases in the "controlled archive" of cases where the UKBA had lost track of the applicant
The select committee also said the government's plan to reduce by a quarter the 260,000 student visas issued annually would not benefit the UK.
They also recommended that students be excluded from net migration figures so that the government could meet the government's pledge to cut net migration from 250,000 to tens of thousands by 2015.
They also recommended that UKBA's inspectors stopped announcing visits to colleges so that "bogus" institutions could be prevented from abusing the immigration system.
The full report can be viewed here.
Extended educational oversight Tier 4 arrangements
In July 2011, details of the new arrangements for the 'educational oversight' of private colleges that sponsor international students were confirmed.
This 'educational oversight' includes:
- Full assessments of sponsors every 4 years;
- Intermediate 'health check' assessments, with the frequency dependent on the outcome of previous inspection; and
- Full assessments will be undertaken earlier than the normal 4-year cycle if circumstances change or if health checks reveal any issues.
Additionally, there will be a 3-month window this year for new applications for educational oversight from private education providers. Providers who successfully obtain educational oversight can apply to join the Tier 4 sponsor register.
Applications Window
Privately funded colleges in England and Wales wanting to obtain educational oversight, as part of an application to join the Tier 4 sponsor register will be able to do so between 23rd July and 22nd October 2012.
Privately funded colleges in Scotland will be able to apply between 3rd September and 5th November 2012.
Providers in Northern Ireland should consult the Education and Training Inspectorate for details of the window for applications.
Full assessments of new applicants will begin in 2013, and will start the sponsor's 4-year educational oversight cycle.
4-year Assessment Cycle
Privately funded colleges will undergo a 4-year assessment cycle. All those who applied to a designated educational oversight body by the September 2011 deadline (or by 28 May 2012 for colleges in Scotland) will receive an initial full assessment by the end of 2012, beginning their 4-year cycle.
These sponsors next undergo a full assessment in 2016 and every fourth year thereafter (unless there is a material change in circumstances).
In addition to full assessments every 4 years, educational oversight bodies will undertake risk-based interim health checks. Privately funded colleges assessed in 2012 will undergo initial health checks in 2013.
Further health checks will take place annually unless the relevant oversight body judges that the sponsor meets the highest educational standards, meaning health checks would take place every 2 years. In this first 4-year cycle, sponsors assessed as performing well in 2013 will not undergo a further health check until 2015.
If the privately funded sponsor no longer meets acceptable standards they will fail the health check. Their confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) allocation will be frozen and, they will be required to submit and action plan to resolve deficiencies within 30 days. During this period, they will be unable to sponsor any new international students but may continue to sponsor students already studying with them.
The sponsor can apply for a full assessment within a short period of time (max 6 months), which will restart their 4-year assessment cycle. Those who pass the full assessment will have their CAS allocation reassigned but those who fail or choose not to apply will be made legacy sponsors.
Material change in circumstances
Educational oversight bodies will provide details of the specific material changes that will lead to sponsors being required to undergo an early full assessment during the 4-year cycle.
These changes include a significant and sudden increase in student numbers (international and/or EU/EEA), major changes in course provision (including changes to awarding bodies or organisations) and mergers or acquisitions of a new branch that is to be included in the existing sponsorship arrangement.
A failure to report a material change of circumstances may be regarded by the agency as a failure of sponsor duties.
You can view a diagram of the 4-year cycle of assessment for existing and new sponsors published by UKBA here.
Telephone scam targets Indian students
The UK Border Agency has received reports from some universities of a telephone fraud targeting Indian students in the UK.
Students are receiving telephone calls from someone claiming to work for UKBA, giving their name and a return phone number 020 3239 8294. The caller also has the passport number of the student. The caller says there is a serious problem with the student's immigration status, and that they need to send a payment by Western Union as soon as possible to prevent further action or investigation by the UKBA. These calls are not from UKBA.
UKBA has confirmed that although caseworkers occasionally contact someone with a pending immigration application, they would not approach an existing visa holder in this way, nor does the UKBA have any system of financial penalties.
UKBA publishes new Tier 4 policy & sponsor guidance
UKBA has published new Tier 4 policy and sponsor guidance with effect from 9th July 2012.
The new policy and guidance for sponsors can be downloaded at the below link.
Tier 1 and 2
Supreme Court ruling concerning migrant worker rule
The Home Office has suffered a legal setback in its efforts to reduce the number of migrant workers in the UK.
The Supreme Court has advised ministers they cannot bar workers unless rules used to do so had been shown to Parliament.
The judgement could have implications for many rejected cases since 2008 - or possibly earlier.
Adverse impact of 'Immigration' rules on 'Investors'
A leaked report by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) warns that tough immigration rules could adversely impact companies' immediate business competiveness, having a negative affect on the UK's ability to attract investment.
Concerns listed by UKTI include:
- Problems obtaining visas for prospective UK workers, particularly those from India
- Higher level of fluency in English required for skilled employees
- Need to keep re-applying for intra-company transfer visas
- Artificial inflation of salaries to meet threshold for ICTs
- Five-year limit in Britain for staff who transfer within firms
- Impact on ability to bring in scarce engineering technicians
- Requirement to have a UK visa on top of one for EU nations in the "open borders" Schengen Agreement for Chinese investors
- Impact on recruitment of interns due to ban on skilled workers whose visas have expired to work within a year.
UKBA publishes new Tier 2 & 5 policy and sponsor guidance
UKBA has published new Tier 2 & 5 policy and sponsor guidance with effect from 9th July 2012.
The new policy and guidance can be downloaded at the below link.
Renewal of UKBA sponsor licence
Sponsors must renew their licence every 4 years to ensure they can continue to sponsor migrants under the points-based system.
A licence lasts for 4 years, which will start from the date:
- the licence was issued; or
- it first became possible to issue certificates of sponsorship under a tier, category or sub-category to which the licence relates, whichever is the later.
Sponsors should apply to renew their licence using UKBA's sponsorship management system (SMS).
Sponsors should apply to renew their licence before it expires, and they should apply at least a month before their licence expiry date. UKBA will remind sponsors of the need to renew the licence before it expires, but it is the sponsor's responsibility to apply to renew their licence.
If sponsors fail to apply to renew their licence before it expires, they will not be able to make a late application, as their access to the SMS will be cancelled on the expiry date.
If a sponsor successfully renews their licence before it expires, they will be able to continue acting as a sponsor, until they have completed the review of their licence details and sponsorship activity.
Further information on renewing sponsor licences can be downloaded here.
General Immigration Matters
Changes to applications from overstayers
From 1 October 2012, if an applicant has overstayed their leave by more than 28 days any application for further leave will be refused.
This change in the Immigration Rules will affect applicants applying for further leave under:
- the points-based system
- all working and student routes
- visiting routes
- long residency routes
- discharged HM Forces
- UK ancestry routes
This change is in line with the new Immigration rules concerning the family migration route, which came into effect from 9 July 2012.
Applicants who have limited leave to remain must ensure they apply to extend their leave, if needed, in time. If applicants wish to remain in the UK after the 28-day period they should leave the UK and reapply for a visa.
No clear strategy for overstayers
John Vine, the Borders and Immigration Inspector, has reported that the UK Border Agency has no "clear strategy" for dealing with a group of more than 150,000 foreign nationals who have overstayed after their visas expire.
John Vine confirmed that these overstayers are typically foreign students.
His report warned that immigration officers did not know how many of those told to leave the UK had actually left.
The full report can be viewed here.
English language skills test for non-EU nationals
Many migrant organisations have been critical of the UK government's recent changes to the English language requirement for people immigrating from non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries.
Campaigners claim that expecting non-EU nationals wanting to settle in the UK with British-citizen partners to demonstrate higher English language skills may prevent couples from living together in the UK.
Re-Inspection of UKBA's sections in Abu Dhabi & Islamabad
John Vine, Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, has published his report following his re-inspection of UKBA's visa sections in Abu Dhabi and Islamabad.
The Inspector was pleased to find there had been improved performance for customer service processing targets, as well as improvements in the quality of decision making on other visitor, Tier 4 (students) and settlement cases.
However, the Chief Inspector found a number of cases where staff had failed to retain sufficient supporting documents on file, particularly in settlement cases where entry clearance had been granted. Also, whilst an increase in the number of verification checks were noted there were still too many case where it was felt checks were required but not carried out.
The full report can be viewed here.
UKBA to launch 'allegations database'
The UK Border Agency has confirmed that it is to launch an 'allegations database' to improve its performance in following up intelligence leads from members of the public.
UKBA has confirmed that the design of the database has been agreed, funding secured and an assessment has been made of staffing and operational requirements needed.
The Home Affairs Committee will monitor the progress of the database.
UKBA have released too many staff
The National Audit Office has found that the UK Border Agency has laid off 1,000 more staff than it intended to resulting in hiring additional people and increase overtime to meet its workload.
UKBA have confirmed that more people than expected wanted to leave.
Veristat Services
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 at enquiries@veristat.co.uk.
Entrepreneur Visits
We are working with InvestUK (http://www.investukvisa.com) to provide immigration and investment support to applicants seeking leave to enter or remain as an entrepreneur under Tier 1 of the PBS. For further information please contact enquiries@veristat.co.uk or enquiries@investukvisa.com.
