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From February or March next year, there will be stricter immigration rules for foreign students wanting to study in the UK.
All colleges and universities wanting to recruit foreign students will need a licence and have to follow strict new rules, including alerting the UK Border Agency (UKBA) if students fail to enrol or stop their studies.
Students wanting to study in the UK will have to:
- be sponsored by a UKBA-licensed educational institution
- prove that they have the means to support themselves and their families while studying here
- supply their fingerprints.
Students on courses lasting less than 12 months will have to show they have enough money to cover the whole of their course fees plus £800 a month for each month of the course. If their course lasts more than twelve months, they must show they have funds for the first year’s fees plus £9,600 for their first year in the UK. If they have dependants, they will need a further £535 a month for each dependant. Students will continue to be allowed to work as under the present rules.
Students will also need to show that they have achieved a certain level of qualification before coming to the UK and be studying for an approved qualification.
All students currently in the UK will have been granted leave to allow them to complete their current course. Once the new immigration rules come in, those who wish to extend their stay as a student to undertake further studies will need to show that they can meet all the requirements under the new rules.
You can get full details from the UKBA website at  www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.
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