Archive for the 'UK Student Visa' Category

From 23 July 2010, existing Tier 4 students who want to change to a sponsor with a Highly Trusted Sponsor (HTS) licence will be able to begin their new course of study, at their own risk, while they are waiting for the UK Border Agency to make a decision on their application to change sponsor.

Students applying to change to an A- or B-rated sponsor are not permitted to begin their new course of study until they receive a positive decision from the UKBA on their application to change sponsor. To avoid unnecessary delays in beginning a course, the UKBA have put processes in place to prioritise applications made by students who want to change to A- or B-rated sponsors.

Hi
i should mention here that, getting an appointment for a Tier 4 student visa is difficult and i really dont understand the process.

My course starts on Oct 1,2010. When i sent an email to VFS indicating that i need an appointment to file a Tier 4 student visa, the VFS south replied back to me, stating that they can only give appointments if the starting date mentioned on the CAS is on or before 30th September 2010. The thing that really bothers me is, it is just a difference of 1 day, it just falls within the stipulated “apply before 3 months of the course start date” rule and i have to wait for a period of.. i dont know how many days, to file the VISA.
But, one of my friend has already submitted an application at the same VFS center, with prior appointment, eventhough his course start date is Oct 7, 2010. This is really unfair.

There are currently 670,000 overseas students in the UK which are worth over £8 billion to the economy. 236,000 visas were issued in 2008-09 however the number of applications rejected in the same period was 115,000 and this in part is due to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) as they tighten their grip on bogus colleges.

Before reaching the UK, students now need to prove that they have a place at a licensed institution and colleges have to prove that they are a genuine education provider and report students who do not attend their courses.