The International Student Blog

The new visa rules that emerged last month for the UK were unveiled Wednesday (10th February 2010) by the home secretary Alan Johnson. There were large concerns that the new proposed rule changes would impact English language schools, as it would increase the level of english required by applicants to a level that would rule out most students who come to the UK to study English.

The new rules to the “Points Based UK Visa System” was partially in response to a scam where older international female students were applying as a student to also bring in their husbands to the UK as dependents, and as such the changes are as follows:

1. Require overseas students to have higher standards of English (the equivalent of just below GCSE),
2. Halving the amount of time students can work each term-time week to 10 hours
3. Banning dependents of anyone studying for less than six months.

The new changes, however, will not only affect English Language Schools as University Vice-Chancellors are also now concerned about this affect on university funding. At the moment international students are a major source of funding for universities in the UK, and these new changes, along with the suspension of visa applications in India due to a recent large surge at the tail end of last year – could see a large drop in the numbers of international students in the UK.

To read the full original article and for more information about the visa changes, please see the Guardian story.

Are you an international student trying to apply to the UK? Or are you concerned by these new regulations – post your comments below and let us know what you think!

English as a second language is a thriving industry in the UK, with an estimate 600,000 students traveling to the UK each year to study. More than half of these also then go on to higher education courses – and for this reason the English Language industry brings in over £1.5bn to the British economy each year.

However, the booming industry has some major concerns regarding the new points based visa system. Brought into use back in April 2009, the new points based system was originally designed to close down bogus colleges and institutions – and for a large part the system succeeded. However there were still concerns that the system could be abused, and at the tail end of 2009, the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered a review of the system in order to tighten it up.

This review led to new proposals being put forward to raise both the level study and the standard of English for any applicant coming into the UK on the points based system. Although this new proposal will almost certainly remove further abuses of the system, it will also certainly exclude all students who want to come into the UK for six months or more to develop their English skills from a basic level.

Philip Hopkins, principal of the English Language Centre in Brighton, says that if the government’s proposals come into force, about 40% of the school’s business would be wiped out. “We are an educational charity founded in 1962 and many of the students we get for long-term courses are students who go on to a foundation, undergraduate or master’s programme and will be in the UK education system for the next four or five years.”

Clearly the UK Government needs to review their current proposals, otherwise we could see some serious knock-on effects to the English Language sector in the UK. For more information about this article please see the original news source at the Guardian Newspaper.

You can also search for a range of ESL programs from all around the world through the ESL Directory.

New regulations are being introduced that will allow all students who are issued with visas on, or after the 26th April 2008 to automatically have work authorization. In the past all student visas that were issued to students studying in Australia did not have any form of work authorization, and students needed to separately apply for this – however now all student visas will include work authorization.

The actual working rights will not change for students, so students will still be able to work a maximum of 20 hours per week whilst in school, and unlimited hours during scheduled school breaks. However, the new process will greatly simplify the process for many international students.

The cost of the visa application has also changed, whereas previously the cost of the visa was $430 AUD and $60 AUD for the work authorization, this has now been change to one fee of $450 AUD

For more information about the changes, please see the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website

If you would also like to learn more about Studying in Australia, please see the Australia section of InternationalStudent.com for information about courses, preparing for Australia and much more.

Great news for international students who are studying in the USA on an F1 visa, as the Department of Homeland Security has finally ruled that students can now extend their OPT program for up to 29 months in total. This new ruling allows qualified F1 non-immigrant students to now stay in the USA more than the normal 12 month program.

To be eligible for the new OPT extension, you need to meet the following criteria:
– Currently be participating in a 12-month period of approved post-completion OPT;
– Have successfully completed a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) included in the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List from a college or university certified by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program;
– Be working for a U.S. employer in a job directly related to the student’s major area of study;
– Be working for, or accepted employment with, an employer enrolled in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify program. E-Verify is a free, internet-based system operated in partnership with the Social Security Administration that helps employers to determine the employment eligibility of newly-hired employees; and
– Properly maintain F-1 status.

You can see the full press release from the Department of Homeland Security by visiting:
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1207334008610.shtm

The UK, like the USA, is starting to tighten up their immigration and visa policies for those entering the UK. For most students who want to study in the UK this will mean a few things:

1 – By April 2008, all students will need to submit biometric data with their application when they apply for their student visa. This data includes a scan of all our fingers plus a full face digital photograph. To get this done you will need to go to the nearest VAC or Visa Application Center who will gather this data, and should take no more than 5 minutes.

2 – Upon entering the UK, the British Government is currently undertaking a trial that will fingerprint and take a photograph of all those coming into the UK. The new trial is at the moment limited to those arriving from a few countries and is going on until 2008 – however it is expected that this will fully roll out after that for all those entering the UK.

If you are applying for a visa, or already have submitted a visa application it is most likely that you will not need to include biometric data – however for students from the USA who want to study in the UK the cut-off date for requiring biometric data is December 3rd 2007. So if you are a US Citizen wanting to study in the UK you are advised to get your application in before this date.

For all other students please check with your local British Embassy as they will be able to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date information. You can also visit the UK Visa Website for further information and advice.

There is also a good new snippet from Reuters that explains the new finger-print and picture regulations in a little more detail: