UK student visa must be sponsored

Students coming to the UK from overseas will have to be sponsored by a college licensed by the UK Border Agency, under The Home Office proposals.

The colleges will have to prove that they are genuine education institutions. Not just routes into low skilled workers. Also, they will have to report to home office about students who are not attending their courses. As part of the wider shake-up of the new immigration system, applicants will need to have enough points before they can apply for a student visa. Applicants will be finger printed and will need a bio-metric identity card.

The new licensing system, to be implemented in next year, will replace the existing register of education training providers operated by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Work/job after Graduation

The chief executive of Universities UK, Diana Warwick, said: "Universities agree with the principles of the new system and welcome the plan to link visas to specific institutions. "But we have been keen to ensure that there is sufficient time for the new processes to be understood by prospective students overseas and by colleagues in universities as well as to ensure rigorous testing of the new IT system that will underpin the points-based operation." She said universities also liked the doubling of the time people may work in the UK after completing their studies. "These arrangements will allow international graduates to apply to stay in the UK to work for up to two years after graduation," she said. "We know international students are keen to build on their academic qualification with a period of work experience in the UK and post study work will ensure the UK remains an attractive destination for international students."

The new system is in two parts :

• LICENCES FOR EDUCATION PROVIDERS
• TIGHTER RULES FOR STUDENTS

LICENCES FOR EDUCATION PROVIDERS

All colleges and universities that want to recruit foreign students will need a licence.

To get a Licence, all education providers will need to show they are inspected or audited or hold valid accreditation with one of the bodies approved by the UK Border Agency (UKBA):

Accreditation UK - which offers an accreditation service for English language centres.

BAC - the British Accreditation Council - which offers a more general accreditation service to cover a wide range of education providers.

ASIC - the Accreditation Service for International Colleges - which also offers a general accreditation service to cover a wide range of education providers.

Ofsted - the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills.

Education providers will be expected to report students who fail to enrol or who stop attending.

TIGHTER RULES FOR STUDENTS

Adult students will be allowed in only "where they can demonstrate a proven track record in studying". They will need an immigration sponsor - that is, the education provider that has accepted them on a course. A sponsor's confirmation of acceptance for studies will account for 30 of the 40 points needed to get a student visa. It will be a pre-requisite to getting the visa but no guarantee that someone will be granted one. The other 10 points will come from checks by UK entry clearance officers that applicants have sufficient funds and that their documentation is genuine. Students on courses of more than 12 months will have to show they can pay their first year of fees and have at least 9,600 pound for their first year in the UK. Once in the UK students will face ongoing checks.