Senior UK immigration official visits India
April 02 2009 by Gareth McConnell
With confusion surrounding the introduction of the UK's new Tier 4 student visa, UK immigration has sent a senior official to India to discuss the changes.
Barbara Woodward, Director of the UK Border Agency will meet government officials and education representatives to explain what the new rules will mean to Indian’s wanting to study in the UK.
From 1st April, educational institutions must have a licence and be listed on the Tier 4 Register of Sponsors in order to teach overseas students. The new system has already resulted in 460 institutions failing the government assessment, with more than 2,100 making the grade.
Before arriving in the UK, international students will need show their certificate of sponsorship issued from an approved educational institution as well as proof they can financially support themselves, and must also provide their fingerprints to the UK Border Agency.
"These new measures make sure people who come here to study - and the people who teach them - play by the rules," said Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.
"This new tier of the points based system allows us to know exactly who is coming to the UK to study and crack down on bogus colleges."
Foreign students play an important role to the UK’s cultural and economic wealth with tuition fees from last year alone totaling £2.5 billion. The visit by the Director of the UK Border Agency is expected to reassure the UK is now an even more attractive destination for international studies wanting to study in the UK, given the crackdown on bogus schools and colleges.
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