All Articles: Students
Changes to Student and Short-term Student routes from 1 December 2020
The Immigration Rules covering student visas were substantially revised in early September 2020, with the changes coming into force on 5 October. As Nath has noted, this means that the student routes were not as affected as other categories by the maj ...
10th November 2020Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 707 – “new Points-Based Immigration System” rules for students
Is a statement of changes even a statement of changes nowadays if it doesn’t introduce a new appendix to the Immigration Rules? On 10 September 2020, the government laid the first statement of changes of its infamous “new Point-Based Immigration S ...
11th September 2020Government provides (not much) further detail on the UK’s new points-based immigration system
Immigration lawyers up and down the land leapt out of bed this Monday morning, eager to glut out on the promised detail of the UK’s new points-based immigration system. How disappointed we all are. The snappily titled UK’s Points-Based Imm ...
13th July 2020Comment: universities, schools and colleges urgently need international student guidance
On 19 May 2020, a number of media outlets reported that there will be no face-to-face lectures at Cambridge University until summer 2021. The university issued a statement the next day in which it said there had been “partial reporting of only o ...
21st May 2020Tribunal takes trip down memory lane with student visa appeal
The headnote of Rana (s. 85A; Educational Loans Scheme) Bangladesh [2019] UKUT 396 (IAC) deals with two matters: 1. There was nothing in s 85A of the 2002 Act preventing the Secretary of State from adducing evidence. 2. The requirement to show that a ...
21st January 2020University strikes: what do they mean for international students and staff?
Today sees the start of industrial action, including strikes, across 60 universities. Members of the University and Colleges Union are striking over pensions, pay and conditions for the next eight days, with other forms of action planned when they ret ...
25th November 2019Will the Graduate Immigration Route live up to expectations?
With the Brexit psychodrama continuing to monopolise airtime and public attention, it would be easy to overlook the government’s recent announcement of a new visa route for foreign students in the UK. Providing a bit of relief from the general d ...
30th October 2019Plague of incorrect Biometric Residence Permits causes havoc across education sector
September and October are important and busy enrolment periods for Tier 4 student visa sponsors. Immigration compliance teams had enough to contend with this academic year with the introduction of passport eGates, which means having to find evidence o ...
16th October 2019Return of two-year post study work visa announced
The two-year post study work visa has returned from the dead, apparently. Multiple statements, from the Prime Minister, the Business Secretary, the Department for Education and, last and least, the Home Office have been released announcing the resurre ...
11th September 2019Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules HC 2631: changes to work visa routes
A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published yesterday, 9 September 2019. This post will cover changes to work and student visa routes, while a separate post deals with changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and other changes br ...
10th September 2019Home Office tries to tackle eGates problem that makes short-term study illegal
Since 20 May 2019, people from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA have been able to enter the UK using ePassport gates (‘eGates’). British and EU citizens have been able to use eGates since 2008. The ...
18th June 2019No deal planning: Home Office forgets about Scotland
Depending on which pundit you speak to, a no-deal Brexit has either got more likely or less likely over the last couple of weeks. It remains the default if the UK-EU withdrawal agreement is not passed at the third time of asking, and a further extensi ...
26th March 2019No duty of fairness to student left in the lurch by college
Last week the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of fairness and discretion in the context of the Points Based System. Specifically, it decided that such values take a firm second place to predictability. The case is R (Dharmeshkumar Bhupendrabhai P ...
27th February 2018Student accused of ETS fraud found to have been unlawfully detained
In R (on the application of Iqbal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 79 (Admin) the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) was found to have unlawfully detained a claimant whom they had alleged had fraudulently obtai ...
15th March 2017Home Office ‘abuse of power’ over English Language Testing student
The President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal has found that the Home Office abused its power in forcing a college to expel a student and deliberately depriving him of a statutory right of appeal. The case has now been r ...
11th January 2017Court of Appeal has finally had it with the Points Based System
The Points Based System is notoriously complex and indecipherable. Initially I believe this was simply incompetence on the part of Home Office officials unable to communicate in plain English and ill equipped to design to and then adapt to the constan ...
8th December 2016Court of Appeal unhappy with Home Office position and submissions in student case
“Technical”, “deeply unattractive”, “disingenuous”, “singularly lacks merit”, “ridiculous”, “inappropriate”, “extraordinary”. All words used by Elias or Vos LLJ to des ...
16th May 2016*UPDATED* Tribunal rejects Home Office fraud allegation in ETS case but fails to report determination
President McCloskey has firmly rejected the Home Office case against students alleged to have fraudulently obtained English language test certificate from ETS (“Educational Testing Services Ltd”) in the case of SM and Ihsan Qadir v Secr ...
13th May 2016Inspection report finds chaotic Home Office practices in student cases
A recent report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, revealed that the management of curtailment decisions in Tier 4 cases is inconsistent and the Home Office is unable to deal with the thousands of curtailment cases and ...
29th March 2016New immigration statistics: some highlights
The quarterly immigration statistics were published this morning. Net migration has reached its highest ever level, now standing at 336,000 for the year ended June 2015. Immigration increased by 62,000 to 636,000 and emigration decreased by 20,000 to ...
26th November 2015Court of Appeal dismisses ETS challenges
Back in the day, One Direction enjoyed considerable success and dominated the reported charts. Without a picture in the attic, though, good fortune and good looks cannot last forever. Decline is inevitable. It can be embraced with dignity but this elu ...
29th September 2015Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 297
Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 297 was published today, 13 July 2015, having been trailed in The Daily Mail over the weekend. It includes some significant changes, particularly for international students. I’m technically on holida ...
13th July 2015Good news and bad for challenges to ETS fraud decisions
The Upper Tribunal has given judgment in a test case on ETS appeals and judicial reviews: R (on the application of Gazi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (ETS – judicial review) IJR [2015] UKUT 327 (IAC). It is essential reading for anyo ...
18th June 2015Genuine students and ECO interviews
Having just finished drafting grounds for judicial review in a case involving a refusal of a Tier 4 study application on the grounds that the applicant was not a “genuine student” I was interested to see the new case of R (Mushtaq) v Entr ...
17th May 2015Pankina and Beyond! Students and knowledge of English
I recently acted in an appeal concerning a Tier 4 Student application in which the sole reason for refusal concerned the appellant’s English language ability. Since April 2011 all degree–level students have been required to show knowledge of Eng ...
1st March 2012