immigration update for education providers
In line with the raft of changes that the Government has
introduced to restrict migrant workers, there are a series of
significant changes to the Immigration Rules aimed at students
too.
In respect of the education providers, the Government has been
looking to place higher compliance requirements to ensure
individual schools, colleges and universities are under more
stringent obligations to ensure immigration compliance. As a
result, from April all Tier 4 sponsors must be
classed as "highly trusted sponsor" and any Tier 4 sponsor not
already subject to inspection or review by one of the designated
educational oversight bodies, must apply to the
relevant oversight body. Reviews and inspections will take place in
2012 and failure to achieve a satisfactory inspection outcome from
the oversight body could result in the sponsorship licence being
withdrawn.
The courses that students can attend are also the subject of
change. Work placements will be restricted to a third of the
course, however exemptions can apply to degree level courses and
overseas study placements.
The students themselves are also facing changes and
restrictions. First, the level of English language ability required
for degree level courses will be raised. In addition, the ability
to bring family members/dependants will be severely restricted. The
changes proposed mean that only post graduate students at
Universities and Government sponsored students will be permitted to
bring family members. The time that students can spend in the UK is
also to be curtailed to three years for lower level and five years
for higher level. So far, the Government has not announced plans to
restrict time for study at or above degree level.
The post study work visa is scheduled to be withdrawn from April
2012. This is a significant change as the visa allowed graduates to
work for two years following completion of their degree. This made
UK Universities attractive to international students. The
Government has proposed that to still enable graduates to work
after they have completed their course, they will waive the
resident labour market test (advertising). Although this is of
course welcome, it is of very limited benefit. A post study work
visa did not require the employer to be a registered sponsor. At
the time of writing, there are just over 24,500 businesses that are
registered as sponsors. This has to be set against the number of
businesses registered in the UK which was estimated at 4.5 million
at the beginning of 2011 by the Office for National Statistics.
Sponsors therefore make up approximately 0.5% of the number of
registered businesses. This therefore severely restricts the
employer options for graduates.
The cumulative effect of these proposed changes makes the UK
very unattractive for international students. Time will tell how
much the UK economy will suffer if international students start to
choose more favourable environments such as the USA and Canada.
The December 2011 report from the National Institute of Economic
and Social Research concluded that the net contribution to the
economy from international students far outweighed their cost and
therefore a reduction in net migration of international students
will have a negative impact on public finances.
At a time that the number of UK students enrolling in University
is decreasing due to the impact of tuition fees, education
providers can ill-afford numbers of international students to drop
too.
The overall changes that the Government has made and proposes to
make to the Immigration Rules make the UK less attractive to
international workers and students, but also increase the burden on
employers and education providers to ensure compliance. At a time
when the economy is struggling to grow, are these continued changes
sensible?
