Strict UK visa regime threatens Pakistani, international students

LONDON: In a complete overhaul of the student immigration system, Britain has introduced stringent rules to outlaw bogus colleges and only support accredited educational institutions.

The new measures, under the Tier 4, aimed at students from the non-EU countries, are bound to affect thousands of Pakistani students for whom Britain remains the most favoured country for higher education. Of the 1.6 million full-time undergraduates currently studying in the UK, around 99,000 are classified as international students.

Britain saw a sharp rise in number of Pakistani — and Muslim — student applicants after the 9/11 attacks on the US and the following crackdown on the Pakistani and Muslims students. According to the UK Home Office figures of August 2008, there were 36,200 students enrolled in the UK colleges and universities from the Indian subcontinent — 10,600 from Pakistan, 22,100 from India and 3,490 from Bangladesh.

The international students in Britain last year paid tuition fees worth £2.5 billion. The British government claims that the new student visa regime will make the visa process simpler, more objective and more transparent, while preventing abuse of the immigration system.

According to new rules, all the British schools and colleges taking in international students from outside the European region will need to be registered with the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Hundreds of colleges, many of them owned by the Pakistanis, have been shut down in the recent crackdowns.

There will be five visa types for students, including child student, child visitor, adult student, student visitor, and prospective student. Announcing the new Tier-4 rules, Home Office Minister Phil Woolas said fake colleges set up to help illegal foreign workers get into Britain were the biggest “loophole” in the immigration system.

“I believe that the new system will benefit major institutions, colleges and private universities, but the backstreet bogus college is being exposed.” A greater responsibility rests with the colleges to ensure that students meet all the requirements before applying for the visa. This means students will have to attain 40 points: 30 points for showing an unconditional offer of a recognised study place; and 10 points for showing that a student has approximately £10,000 in his account for tuition fees and maintenance.

The new visa regime has met opposition from a leading supplier of international students in the UK. Study Group Managing Director James Pitman told The News that the new rules had put a burden on the institutions for these institutions were being treated as education providers as well as immigration administrators. “The institutions will now have to act as sponsors of students wishing to study in the UK and will have a requirement to report non-enrolment and prolonged absenteeism. We understand that the visa extension process will become more complex as well and such changes will certainly add to workload and administration costs. The time to fill in an application and go through it with a student will also increase significantly.

“When this is taken in the context of the new requirement for biometric visas, an increase in visa fees from £99 to £145, and the recent introduction of ID cards for international students, it is clear that the international education industry faces significant changes. This is a sector that is worth £13 billion to the UK economy and we need to make sure that (the) industry works closely with (the UK) government to ensure that these changes are implemented smoothly.”