Education
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration Report: Annual Report 2012-13 (Education)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published his fifth Annual Report.
Key points concerning studying in the UK were as follows:
- A thematic inspection of student applications under Tier 4 of the Points Based System found that decision quality was good and that requests for sponsor licences were being carefully considered before decisions were made. However, cases were found where applicants had been incorrectly refused.
- He was pleased that the Home Office had launched a project to analyse appeal outcomes with a view to improving decision-making, which was a recommendation he had made in previous reports.
- He was concerned to find that a backlog of almost 153,000 notifications had developed, where sponsors had informed the Home Office that foreign students' circumstances had changed. Additionally, no targets were in place to manage these sponsor notifications effectively.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Tier 4 Guidance Republished
The Home Office (UKBA) has republished the Tier 4 guidance.
This version does not introduce any new policies but it provides additional clarification in response to customer feedback received.
The latest version can be downloaded here.
Inspection of the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Education)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published a report on his inspection of the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Key points in relation to Tier 4 visa applications were as follows:
The Inspection of the Dhaka Visa Section found that the quality of the decision-making was 'poor' for student applications.
They found this was mainly due to ECOs failing to take a balanced view of an applicant's performance during interview.
Several improvements were necessary in relation to the use of 'credibility interviews' for Tier 4 applicants under the PBS, including:
- The need to communicate clearly the purpose of the Sheffield credibility interview, so that it was understood and trusted by ECOs.
- Further credibility interviews undertaken overseas needed to be conducted fairly.
- ECO's must receive adequate training to determine whether an applicant's English language ability is in line with that specified in the Certificate of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
The report on the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh can be read here.
The Home Office has published its response to the Independent Chief Inspector's report. It stated that it has made steps to implement processes to address the ICI's concerns, some of which have been raised previously, but accepted that further work still needed to be done to apply them consistently.
You can read the Home Office's full response here.
- A thematic inspection of student applications under Tier 4 of the Points Based System found that decision quality was good and that requests for sponsor licences were being carefully considered before decisions were made. However, cases were found where applicants had been incorrectly refused.
- He was pleased that the Home Office had launched a project to analyse appeal outcomes with a view to improving decision-making, which was a recommendation he had made in previous reports.
- He was concerned to find that a backlog of almost 153,000 notifications had developed, where sponsors had informed the Home Office that foreign students' circumstances had changed. Additionally, no targets were in place to manage these sponsor notifications effectively.
The full report can be downloaded here.
The Home Office (UKBA) has republished the Tier 4 guidance.
This version does not introduce any new policies but it provides additional clarification in response to customer feedback received.
The latest version can be downloaded here.
Inspection of the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Education)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published a report on his inspection of the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Key points in relation to Tier 4 visa applications were as follows:
The Inspection of the Dhaka Visa Section found that the quality of the decision-making was 'poor' for student applications.
They found this was mainly due to ECOs failing to take a balanced view of an applicant's performance during interview.
Several improvements were necessary in relation to the use of 'credibility interviews' for Tier 4 applicants under the PBS, including:
- The need to communicate clearly the purpose of the Sheffield credibility interview, so that it was understood and trusted by ECOs.
- Further credibility interviews undertaken overseas needed to be conducted fairly.
- ECO's must receive adequate training to determine whether an applicant's English language ability is in line with that specified in the Certificate of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
The report on the Visa Section in Dhaka, Bangladesh can be read here.
You can read the Home Office's full response here.
Working in the UK
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration Report: Annual Report 2012-13 (Working in the UK)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published his fifth Annual Report.
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration Report: Annual Report 2012-13 (Working in the UK)
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published his fifth Annual Report.
Key points concerning working in the UK were as follows:
- An inspection of entrepreneur and investor applications under Tier 1 of PBS identified that applications were taking eight times longer to be decided in Sheffield than overseas.
- A backlog of 9,000 entrepreneur and investor applications had also developed, which had not been anticipated by the Home Office.
- Decisions on investor applications were reasonable for the majority of cases but over a third of entrepreneur cases were unreasonable. Adequate records of decisions had not been kept in more than two-fifths of the files examined.
The full report can be downloaded here.
- An inspection of entrepreneur and investor applications under Tier 1 of PBS identified that applications were taking eight times longer to be decided in Sheffield than overseas.
- A backlog of 9,000 entrepreneur and investor applications had also developed, which had not been anticipated by the Home Office.
- Decisions on investor applications were reasonable for the majority of cases but over a third of entrepreneur cases were unreasonable. Adequate records of decisions had not been kept in more than two-fifths of the files examined.
The full report can be downloaded here.