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The next set of changes to the Immigration Rules
affecting Tier 4 - the student tier - of the
points-based system has been laid in Parliament today.
The changes will come into effect on 4 July 2011.
The Home Secretary
announced changes to the Immigration Rules in a
statement to Parliament on 22 March, following a major
public consultation on reforming Tier 4. The first set
of changes came into effect on 21 April.
The aim of the
revised Immigration Rules is to deliver a strong
migration system which tackles immigration abuse,
while allowing genuine students to study at genuine
colleges.
From 4 July we will:
-
restrict work
entitlements to migrants studying at higher
educational institutions (HEIs) and publicly funded
further education colleges only;
-
restrict the
sponsorship of dependants to those studying at
postgraduate level at HEIs on courses lasting at
least 12 months, and government-sponsored students
on courses lasting at least 6 months;
-
require education
providers to vouch that a new course represents
genuine academic progression;
-
ensure that
maintenance funds are genuinely available to the
applicant, by introducing a declaration on the visa
application form;
-
commit to publish
a list of financial institutions that we consider,
on the basis of experience, do not verify financial
statements to our satisfaction in more than 50 per
cent of a sample of cases;
-
introduce a
streamlined application process for low-risk
nationals applying to attend courses with Highly
Trusted Sponsors;
-
extend the list of
courses for which students must receive ATAS
clearance;
-
restrict the
ability to deliver accountancy courses accredited by
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
to those sponsors accorded platinum or gold status
by ACCA; and
-
clarify the
position of overseas universities with campuses in
the UK.
These changes were
announced by Immigration Minister Damian Green in a
written ministerial statement this morning. You can
download this statement, and the statement of changes
to the Immigration Rules (HC 1148) from the right side
of this page.
A revised version of
our policy guidance document for Tier 4 migrants, and
a statement of intent summarising the new student visa
policy, can also be downloaded from the right side of
this page. You can find our revised guidance for Tier
4 sponsors in the
Sponsor guidance section.
We have published an
impact assessment for these changes in our
Policy and law section.
We are
also announcing today that the Quality
Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Independent Schools
Inspectorate (ISI) will extend their activities to
cover privately funded providers, in line with our
commitment that all privately funded sponsors would be
inspected or reviewed by one of the publicly
recognised bodies by the end of 2012.
There are also a
small number of changes being made to bring into
effect:
-
a new provision
for other family members of refugees and
beneficiaries of humanitarian protection;
-
a minor correction
to the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) provisions
and clarify a requirement of the Tier 1 (Exceptional
Talent) and Tier 1 (Investor) Rules; and
-
a small number of
minor corrections and technical changes to the Rules
relating to English language requirements for
partners and spouses.
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