Student? You worth 2 Years...

Here it comes,what we were waiting 4.....

On 1st of July UK Home office announce some new changes in immigration category Tier 1. The changes i will be discussing here are for students.
If you are in UK finishing study or have finished your study, here is something you should be proud of, now Science & Engineering Graduate Scheme and International Graduate scheme are converted in to "Post-Study workers", normally we do not like change, but this change is good and with this scheme you can stay and work for 2 years after graduation. You must meet requirements i have posted in the end of this blog.

There is a very good thing Home office has done is that they have provided us with a self assessment tool (the link to this tool is in the end fo blog) where you can go and check yourself, but always there are some tricky bits...the good thing about this immigration category is that you don't need to do anything for proof of english if you have finished your study in UK ( it is point 'D' in requirement in the end of this blog). But you need at least 800 pounds in your bank account if you are applying within UK and £2800 if you are applying from outside UK as maintenance (it is point 'E' in the end of this blog). The tricky bit here is when you send you application you send your financial means, e.g. bank statement as well, you need to show that the amount (800 or 2800) you show must be in your account for at least three months as they require bank statement of last three months.

One thing is still same that you have to apply for post-study work withing one year of finishing your study. Another good point here is if you are living in Scotland and You finish HND which is higher national diploma even then you can apply for post-study work. If you have done post graduate diploma even then you can apply for post study work visa.

If you are re-sitting in exams or writing thesis and you want to apply for post-study work, now you can, you just need to get a confirmation letter of your study circumstance from your institute.

Visa fees is £400, which i think worth paying for 2 years. The visa application form is on 44 pages, from which you might fill 10 or 15 pages, and remaining normally students will not use. But we all know it is administration and paper work we have to do.

So its all good news, if you are already in UK on IGS or SEGS you can further extend your stay.


My advice:
Always provide valid documents, try to make your self highly skilled, as highly skilled people are welcome everywhere, even canada has passed a law where highly skilled people will have priority over normal application processing time, which currently takes at least 2 years.

Do not hesitate to write comments here or ask question and share you thoughts. we all can help each other by doing a little bit.

Here is the link of the tool, which you can use as self assessment,
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier1/poststudy/applying/selfassessment/


Points are available on Home office website (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/immigrationrules/part6a/)

Student - extend your visa at the cost of your FINGERPRINT

Note: Please do not hesitate to ask questions here, you can ask questions by commenting this blog.
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This is the time when we have to really think, are we coming here to study or we are ..... so lets come to the point.

Some changes has been made in student visa extension and some changes are coming in future. In this post i will discuss what are the current changes.

A new section has been added in student visa extension form. If you are extending your stay in united kingdom you will have to fill this section and in future it will be compulsory for all students coming to uk, but currently its just for students. Student are the weakest people, and UK Immigration agency is using them to enforce a law which is not accepted by British people (Biometric Identity Cards).

If you are a student who already has leave to study here, you can apply to extend your stay if:

• you last entered the United Kingdom with a valid student or prospective student entry clearance;
  • to re-sit an examination;
    • as a student union sabbatical officer;
    • as a work permit holder;
    • under the science and engineering graduates scheme or as it is now known the international graduates scheme;
    • under the fresh talent: working in Scotland scheme; or
  • you have valid leave as a student.

To apply for an extension to stay in the United Kingdom to study you will need to apply using the FLR(S) application form. You should read the guidance notes before completing the application form.

In the new application form there is New Section No. 7 which is compulsory and its all about bio metrics and finger prints. Border and immigration agency (BIA) is calling this form as Biometric immigration document. Biometric immigration document is the legal term for identity cards for foreign nationals.

At present, you will only need to complete section 7 if you are aged 18 or over and will not be including any dependants in your application.

Postal applications

If you are applying by post you will only need to apply for a biometric immigration document if you live at an address within the London postcode area:

• E1 - 18
• EC1 - 4
• N1 - 22
• NW1 - 11
• SE1 - 28
• SW1 - 20
• W1 - 14
• WC1 - 2.

Once your postal application for your extension has been received, we will send you a letter asking you to make an appointment at our public enquiry office in Croydon to have your fingerprints recorded and photograph taken. If you do not book an appointment, we may not accept your application as valid and we will return any fee you have paid. If you book an appointment and fail to attend or refuse to provide your biometrics, your application may be refused.

You will not have to pay an additional fee when you attend the appointment. If your application to extend your stay is successful, you will still receive a vignette (sticker) in your passport, rather than an identity card.

Applications at Croydon public enquiry office

If you are applying in person at our public enquiry office in Croydon, you will also need to apply for a biometric immigration document regardless of your postcode. Your fingerprints will be recorded and photograph taken as part of the application process on the day you attend the public enquiry office.

You will not have to pay an additional fee when you attend the appointment. If your application to extend your stay is successful, you will still receive a vignette (sticker) in your passport, rather than an identity card.

Applications at other public enquiry offices

If you are applying in person at another public enquiry office, you will not need to apply for a biometric immigration document at the moment. We will update the information on this page when this requirement changes.

Further information

For further details about the biometric immigration document and questions you may have when attending your appointment, you should read the FLR(S) guidance notes and identity cards for foreign nationals. These can be downloaded from the right side of this page.

Student visitor

You will not be able to extend your stay in the United Kingdom as a student visitor. There are no provisions in the student visitor rules for extensions to be granted. Leave as a student visitor can only be obtained by applying for a student visitor visa at a British Diplomatic post abroad or by seeking leave from an Immigration Officer of the UK Border Agency on arrival in the United Kingdom.

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Personal Advice: Personally i have finished my studies and i dont need to extend my visa, but if i am in the start of my process of coming to United Kingdom............i will think three time.... and will think for other options................

In Future: For more information on International Graduate Scheme (IGS) i will write next post, be aware you might be able to stay here for one more year, on the cost of your fingerprint.

Be carefull and remain updated, your immigration category is being deleted..

UK home office is changing immigration system from long time, first they started highly skilled migration programme in 2002 by seeing that Australia is boosting its economy by getting best and highly skilled people from the world's cream. Then in November 2006 home office created a big wall in front of those who came to UK on behalf of their experience and Now Home office is changing all immigration categories one by one.

On 28th February this year home office stopped accepting applications of HSMP and started a so called new tier based point system. I will write detail about this new HSMP system may be in future posts, Now i am going to talk about the categories which are being deleted from current immigration system.

Here are the categories being deleted from current immigration system and some kind of new giant will replace it.

* writers, composers and artists;
* self-employed lawyers;
* innovators;
* the International Graduates Scheme; and
* the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme

First of all it is not going to happen until first week of july so be ready.


so if you are writer, composer or artist UK does not need you any more because it is creating thousands of artists every year and they all are copying american artists..any way.

If you are innovator then you cant come here, as before you did not need huge amount of money but according to my information there is still category of innovators in new point based system but you will have to bring 200,000 pounds to invest, which is huge amount of money for a person who wants to start small business here, that means its better to stay in your country and do something there.

IGS (international graduate scheme) is being changed, as far as i know about it, it is going to be in the benefit of students as it is going to give students 2 years of stay after graduation, but who knows home office might change his mind. Fresh Talent Scheme will be joined with new IGS, but it is not confirmed yet.

be prepare about your immigration category, if you need any information, please do not hesitate you comment this post. This blog is for all immigrants and do not hesitate to forward it to your friends.