Tier 4
UKBA revoke London Metropolitan University's license
The UK Border Agency has confirmed that London Metropolitan University's licence to sponsor students from outside the European Union has been revoked. Although other universities have had licences suspended, this is the first UK University to lose its licence. A report in the Sunday Times (26th August 2012) described the reasons for the revocation as including students failing to enrol, students being allowed to study without valid leave and the English language ability of the students.
Veristat staff are all senior ex UKBA staff and the company has been working with schools, colleges and universities on compliance issues since the introduction of the PBS. We conduct compliance audits which simulate UKBA visits and advise on good practice and areas for improvement so that HEIs and other education providers have an opportunity to put things right before a UKBA visit rather than risk the revocation of their licence. We also provide audits of feeder colleges. Contact Don Ingham (don@veristat.co.uk) for an informal discussion of how we may be able to help.
UK immigration staff to test international student's English skills
Since 2009, demonstrating language ability has been a key part of the Tier 4 visa process.
However, there have been recent concerns that the introduction of student interviews, could result in students being barred from coming to the UK to study despite passing an approved language test if immigration staff judge that their English is not good enough.
Mike Milanovic, chief executive of Cambridge ESOL, has advised that immigration staff will need specialist skills to interview international students applying to come to the UK to study.
UKBA has recommended that their staff seek advice from local British Council offices.
Dr Rahul Choudaha, director of research at the World Education Services, also wanted that assessing language would not stop abuses.
Eurozone crisis bringing students to British universities
Research by Study Portals, an EU-funded website set up to help young people apply for university courses elsewhere in Europe, shows there has been an increase in the number of students from European countries wanting to study at British universities to escape the economic crises in their home countries.
The report shows that the number of enquiries made through the website from Greek, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese students has significantly increased.
The figures indicate that demand to study outside their own country has increased by more than 180 per cent among Italian students, 162 per cent from Greeks, 157 per cent from Spaniards and 140 per cent from Portuguese students.
New Tier 4 Dependants Policy Guidance
The UK Border Agency has published a new Tier 4 dependant's policy guidance, which is valid from 1st August 2012.
This new guidance can be viewed at the following link:
Tier 1 and 2
Possible £200,000 fine for Tesco over illegal foreign workers
The UK Border Agency found that international students employed at a Tesco.com building in Croydon, South London were working longer hours than their visas allowed.
20 of these students were arrested for alleged breaches of visa terms that restricted the amount of hours they can work.
Tesco will need to provide evidence to UKBA that they were carrying out all legally required checks to avoid a fine.
A fine of £10,000 per illegal worker could be issued by the UK Border Agency.
General Immigration Matters
Fake UK Border Agency Websites and calls
The UK Border Agency has been advised of a number of scam e-mails and websites claiming to be sent and operated by them.
These include:
- Foreign criminals advertising fake UK jobs on the Internet. Individuals who apply are advised they have a job and are then directed to a link to pay for visa and work permit fees. This is not operated by the UK Border Agency.
- Students at a number of UK Universities have received calls from individuals claiming to work for the UK Border Agency, giving a false name and a return telephone number. Again, these calls are not from the UKBA. These calls appear genuine and convincing. The caller advises the student there is a serious problem with their immigration status and that they need to make a payment to avoid further action including deportation.
- A request for payment of a deposit as proof that the individual has sufficient funds to support their arrival in the UK until their first salary is received.
These scams have been reported by UK Border Agency to action fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre. They have warned that there may also be other scams that have not yet been brought to their attention.
If anyone receives a suspicious call or e-mail, or comes across a suspicious website, UKBA advises they report the matter online to action fraud (www.actionfraud.police.uk) or by calling Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
Reduction to Net Immigration figures for UK
Official figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a reduction in net immigration for the UK.
The latest figures calculate net immigration (difference between total immigration and total emigration) as being 216,000, a decrease of 36,000 on the previous published figure of 252,000.
However, despite this apparent drop in net immigration, the ONS have warned that this figure cannot be relied upon and that the margin of error as a result of random sampling was too great to discount in calculating these figures. The unreliability of these figures has led commentators to question whether the Government will ever know whether it has achieved its target of reducing net immigration to 'tens of thousands'.
Veristat Services
New applications service launched
UKBA invariably link issues relating to failure to complete, refusals and failure to enrol back to recruitment processes. They want to see a firm and robust system with clear processes that are adhered to on a consistent basis.
As a result of requests from clients, we have introduced a new admissions service to ensure that applications meet UKBA requirements. The service can be continuous or as an additional support to cover short term, peak periods. We provide a range of options with each service tailored to meet the needs of the institution.
- Review and approval of all admissions documentation pending CAS issue.
- English language (SELT) and NARIC checks.
- Checks for previous refusals and study.
- Academic progression
- 3 and 5 year rule
- Chasing missing documentation
- Issuing CAS as Level 1 or Level 2 user
We also provide a wide range of additional services including advice services; support with document checking and student registration (short or long term); training; visa and attendance monitoring; and help with the preparation of policies, procedures and documentation.
For an informal discussion about any of these services, please contact Don Ingham at don@veristat.co.uk.
