From 31 March 2009 anyone wishing to enter the United Kingdom to study will have to apply under
Tier 4 of the Points Based System (PBS).
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) last week published a statement of changes in the Immigration rules (HC 314) and its policy guidance for Tier 4. The rules delete all previous immigration rules relating to students and substitute new rules 245ZT to 245ZZD.
The new regime created by the rules and the guidance is characterized by the requirement for sponsorship (please see (ii) below) and the division of the student rules into two subcategories - Tier 4 (General) Student (for anyone aged 16 or over) and Tier 4 (Child) Student (mainly for children attending independent fee paying schools on a full-time basis).
Broadly under Tier 4:
i) Anyone seeking to enter the United Kingdom under, as a student will need entry clearance.
ii) All students will need to be sponsored by the college or other education provider with whom he wishes to study. The college must have been licensed by the United Kingdom as an approved education provider and is listed on the Tier 4 register of sponsors. Being so registered enables the education provider to issue the student with a visa letter which is an official unconditional offer confirming the student's place on a course of study.
iii) As with all of the Tiers of the PBS - the rules require applicants to score points in order to succeed in their applications for entry clearance or for leave to remain. The visa letter issued by his or her approved sponsoring education provider will gain the necessary 30 points for "attributes". There are however detailed requirements to be met for the visa letter to generate these points - the applicant must, for example, provide the UKBA with the documents he or she relied on when applying for a place on the course, which must itself meet the UKBA's minimum academic requirements (which are set out in the relevant sponsorship licensing guidance).
As before any course must involve the student in a minimum of 15 hours organized daytime study each week.
iv) Students also need to satisfy the maintenance requirements of the new rules. To do so they need to show that they have enough money to pay the full course fees - unless the course is longer than one year, in which case they only need to show that they have enough money to pay the first year’s fees, as well as £800 for each month of the course. So a student on a three year course will have have to show that he or she has the first year's fees plus £7200 in order to get the necessary 10 points for maintenance.
v) Students can be accompanied by dependents but there must be at least £533 per month available for each dependent.
As indicated above all existing student immigration categories are deleted but those with current leave to remain in these and other categories which have been deleted will be able to "switch" and to apply for further leave to remain as a Tier 4 (General) Student.
Switching will be allowed from the following categories (including existing as well deleted categories): Tier 4 (General) students, Tier 4 (Child) students, Tier 1 (Post-study Work) Migrants, Tier 2 Migrants, Participants in the international Graduates scheme (or its predecessor, the science and engineering Graduates scheme), Participants in the fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, Postgraduate doctors or dentists, Prospective students, students, student nurses, students re-sitting an examination, students Writing Up a Thesis, student Union sabbatical officers and Work Permit Holders.
The UKBA has always said that its points based system is simplicity itself. In reality it is highly complicated, and Tier 4 is no exception to this. The introduction of re-entry bans in the immigration rules' general grounds of refusal one year ago has meant that the refusal of an application has dire implications beyond the mere disappointment of the refusal itself.
With this in mind, and since appeal rights have been severely limited if not completely removed at the same time as the implementation of the PBS - anyone seeking to make any application under Tier 4 or any of the other Tiers is strongly advised to seek professional advice.