Border staff given more power to refuse entry for UK student visa holders
January 25 2010 by Liam Clifford
UK immigration officials at UK airports are to be given greater powers to stop suspect UK student visa holders from entering the country.
The move follows reports that UK immigration staff were finding
it hard to prevent immigration fraudsters from moving to the UK on student visas
obtained with false documents or for study at false
institutions.
Previous UK immigration rules left border staff powerless
to stop students entering the UK based on their own suspicions alone. This
resulted in a global backlog of UK student visas applications, many of which
were not legal.
In a bid to reduce the number of frauds taking place, UK
immigration minister Phil Woolas has given border agency staff the power to look
at students’ bank accounts during on-the-spot investigations at airports. Part
of the criteria that enables foreigners to study in the UK is having the
financial means to support themselves while they are studying.
In
addition to these new powers, the immigration department is also carrying out a
separate review of the entire UK student visa system after concerns were raised
by the Prime Minister himself, who called for a rethink on the current UK
points-based system.
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