Below is a summary of the UK Border Agency's main proposed changes to the student immigration rules (including Post Study Work) which are likely to affect students at UEL. Please note that the consultation process is now closed.

No Tier 4 visa extension for further studies (unless progressing to a higher level course)

• Students who want to remain in the UK for further studies after completing one course will have to show evidence of 'academic progression'. This means you would only be able to apply for a new Tier 4 visa if your new course was at a higher level than your current course.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain.
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course at UEL?

No visa extensions in the UK for new courses (Must return home to apply for new Visa)

• Students may be required to leave the UK and re-apply for another visa from their home country. This means if you complete a course in June, and then have an offer to start a new course in September, you would have to return to your home country to apply for a new visa.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course at UEL?

• Differential requirements for different nationalities

• Students applying for visas from different countries may be required to show different levels of evidence for their application. For example students from country X may have to show bank statements and previous qualifications, whereas students from country Y may not have to show any evidence other than a CAS for their application. The idea is to make the application process easier in countries where there is less perceived "risk" of fraudulant applications.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Do you think that this proposal is fair?

Post Study Work (PSW) Scheme to be closed

• The UKBA is proposing to close down the Post Study Work visa for new applications (The PSW route allows students who have completed and been awarded a relevant qualification in the UK to apply for a 2 year work visa). This means if you are awarded your degree after PSW closes, you will not be able to stay in the UK to work for 2 years, although you may still be able to apply for one of the other work visas (which are generally much harder to meet the application criteria for)
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain
  • Is Post Study Work important to you? If, so why?
  • Will this change affect you (ie: your career/ work experience plans)?
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course in the UK?
  • If you have any friends or family planning to study in the UK, will the closure of PSW affect the decision to study in the UK?

Limit rights to work during term time

• Currently all students on a degree course can work up to a maximum of 20 hours per week in term time for any employer (or 10 hours for students below degree level). Under the new proposals, students will only be allowed to work on campus during the week in term time and allowed to work off campus during weekends and vacations.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain.
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course in the UK?

Remove right of dependants to come to UK unless student is on course of 12 months or more

• Currently, students doing any course of more than 6 months can be accompanied by their dependants. The Government proposes to only allow students on courses of more than 12 months to bring dependants. This means if you apply for a Tier 4 visa for any course below 12 months in length you would not be able to bring your partner or children or if they are already here for them to stay.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain.
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course in the UK?

Remove right of all dependants to work in the UK

• Currently, all dependants of students here for more than 12 months have an unrestricted right to work in the UK. The proposal is to remove this right. Dependants will only be allowed to work if they apply for a Tier 2 visa (which is being capped under other proposals from 1 April 2011) This may affect current dependants if their visas are extended after these changes take effect. This means they would need to stop working if they are unable to get a Tier 2 visa.
  • What do you think about this proposal?
  • Can you see this causing you any difficulties? If so, please explain.
  • If this had applied before, would this have affected your decision to study your current course in the UK?
  • How important is it to you that your dependant has a right to work? If your dependant is not allowed to work what impact would this have on you?
  Please email us at isa@uel.ac.uk with your comments on the proposals above by Friday 21st January.

Please note: The above proposals are still just proposals and no decisions have been made yet. The UK Border Agency will make their decisions soon after the consultation closes and publish the actual changes on their website. At the moment, we do not know if these changes will all go through as proposed, amended or not at all. Furthermore, we do not know when the decisions will be made, nor when the decisions that are made will be implemented. As soon as we hear any news we will publish it on our wesbite - STOP PRESS section

Note: Thank you to The University of Sheffield Students Union Student Advice Centre who provided the ideas for the content of this consultation webpage.