Students Wanting to Extend Their Stay in the UK

The following information is for students wishing to extend their stay in the UK to continue their studies after 31st March 2009.

If you want to make a successful application, it is extremely important that you take note of the following points:

• Before you make your application you read the Home Office policy guidance notes. You can obtain these at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk
• Check you can meet all the requirements before you apply
• Ensure you provide evidence as required by the Home Office. This is explained in the policy guidance and on the application form
• Complete all sections of the form fully and accurately
• Allow plenty of time to make your application and to start gathering documents
• Seek advice if needed from the International Student Adviser if you are having difficulties meeting the requirements of Tier 4 and filling in the application form

If you do not fully meet all the requirements, or if you provide evidence which is not exactly what the Home Office asks for, it is possible your application will be refused. The advantage of applying in the UK is that you can continue studying while you wait for a decision.

The advantage of applying outside the UK, especially if you were planning to go home anyway, is that it is cheaper and usually quicker.

WARNING: If you make an application in the UK when you do not fulfil all the criteria it is highly likely that it will be refused, and your passport marked to show a refusal. This will make it much more difficult to apply for entry clearance for the UK and other countries in the future.

Where Can You Study?

You must study at a college or university which has a Tier 4 sponsor licence. Also it must be at the college or university which gives you the Visa Letter you are using to apply for more time in the UK. If you want to study somewhere else, after you have been given immigration permission to study at the institution which issued the Visa Letter, you have to request the Home Office’s permission or make another immigration application before you can start your studies at the new institution.

Maintenance Requirements

There are special, lower, maintenance requirements if you are already studying in the UK with student immigration permission.

• You need to extend your immigration permission to complete a course you have already started or
• You want to start a new course and you will apply before your current student immigration permission expires, and
• The course you have just finished was six months long or more, and
• You finished your last course under four months before you make this immigration application

If you meet all these requirements, you have to show that you can pay up to one year’s worth of course fees, if relevant, and a maximum of two months’ worth of maintenance costs. This means that if you are studying outside of London, you must have £1,200 for maintenance costs.

You must have had the required amount of money in your account for at least 28 days. The policy guidance says that the end of that 28-day period must not be more than one month before the date of your application. This is to allow you to provide evidence, for example, bank statements that is up to one month old.

Sending Your Application by Post to the Home Office

The cost of this service is £386.

Shortly after you send your application you will receive a letter from the Home Office asking you to telephone to make an appointment to have your fingerprints and photograph recorded. You will be given a deadline for telephoning to make the appointment. You have only 15 working days after the date of the letter to contact the Home Office as after that time the Home Office are allowed to treat you as if you have not made an application.

It is not a good idea to use a card to pay for your application. It is much safer to pay using postal orders. Card payments often fail (because, for example, if a mistake is made entering the card details on the form, or your bank balance drops at the wrong time), then you are treated as though you have not made an application.

Always use recorded or special delivery when you post anything to the Home Office and keep the receipt.

You will have to wait until you receive your identity card from the Home Office before you travel abroad. The identity card is your evidence that you have been given more time in the UK. You will probably receive your passport back in the post a little earlier, but it will not show that you have been given more time in the UK. If you are planning to return to the UK always travel with your identity card as well as your passport.

Taking Your Application to a Public Enquiry Office

The cost of this service is £702. You need to telephone in advance to book an appointment – telephone 0870 606 7766.

Completing the Application Form

It is very important that you complete all sections of the form and provide the documents required as specified in the Home Office’s policy guidance. If you need any help in filling the form in please make an appointment with the International Student Adviser in the Skills for Life Office.

Institutions’ Duty to Report Immigration Matters

The college had to agree to report students to the Home Office in certain circumstances in order to have a Tier 4 sponsor licence. The main situations in which the college will report you to the Home Office are:

1. If you fail to turn up for enrolment having used a Visa letter to extend your stay in the UK
2. You fail to attend classes on 10 occasions without the agreement of the college
3. You take a break from your studies for any reason
4. You change to a shorter course, or your studies end early
5. You leave the college

This means it is very important that, as far as possible, you attend your classes and complete coursework when it is due. It is also very important to notify the college if you are ill and cannot attend or have to miss classes or deadlines for any other reason. You must also tell the college if you decide to leave your course or you are going somewhere else to study.

UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs) have an Information Sheet called Making a student immigration application in the UK. This and many other relevant Information Sheets can be found on www.ukcisa.org.uk