Archive for the 'Tier 4 Sponsors Register' Category

Anglo-Continental was one of the many institutions who had their sponsorship licence suspended at the beginning of the year. We received an email from the UKBA simply stating: ‘A confirmation of acceptance for studies or visa letter may only be issued under Tier 4 if the sponsor is satisfied that the student both intends and is able to follow the course of study concerned.

An inspection team visited and reviewed our procedures. The inspectors could not tell us what had caused the sponsor licensing unit to suspend our licence and said that there is nothing further that we could add to our administration procedures. They said that our procedures were “exemplary”.

Differences against the Tier 4 Register 10 March 2010

The following schools and colleges were removed from the Register:

• Leicester Square School of English
• Taitec college manchester

Differences against the Tier 4 Register 08 March 2010

The following schools and colleges were removed from the Register:

• None

You may be aware that St Patrick’s was one of over 100 colleges temporarily suspended from the Tier 4 Sponsors Register by the UKBA in mid January 2010. I am pleased to be able to inform you that I have today received notification from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) that St Patrick’s College has been reinstated on the List of Tier 4 Licensed Sponsors. This follows a visit to the College by Visiting Officers from the UKBA on 15 February when we had the opportunity to answer all their questions and brief them about our procedures. Please be assured that the suspension was purely temporary, and a routine procedure in accordance with UKBA standard practice. It was not the case that the College infringed the regulations in any way, nor was punished for any transgression on our part. The UKBA has asked us to make some minor adjustments to our procedures to take account of changes to the UK Visa Rules already announced today (03 March 2010) and to ensure that we comply with the new procedures which are expected to come into effect in April and June this year. We have already begun working towards full implementation of the recommendations of the UKBA, in order to ensure that in due course our Licence is reinstated at “A” Rate.

Naturally I am delighted to be able to share this good news with you. I should also like to thank you for your patience, trust, and support during this time. I was always confident that we would be able to answer the UKBA’s questions satisfactorily and that our Licence would be restored, but I was surprised at how long it took to complete the process.