Changes to student visas (tier 4) effective from August 2015

The Home Office announced some changes to the Immigration Rules regarding to Tier 4 student visas.

The main changes are:

• to stop new students at publicly funded colleges from working, bringing them in line with those at private colleges (from August)
• to allow university students to study a new course at the same level but only where there’s a link to their previous course or the university confirms that this supports their career aspirations. There will be credibility interviews and sanctions against universities who abuse this rule (from August)
• ban college students from extending their Tier 4 visas in the UK unless they are studying at an ‘embedded college’, one which has a formal, direct link to a university that is recognised by the Home Office. This will require them to leave and apply for a new visa from outside the UK if they wish to study another course (from November)
• ban college students from being able to switch visas to Tiers 2 or 5 in the UK, and require them to apply from outside the UK (from November)
• reduce the time limit for study at further education level (such as A-Levels, IB) from 3 years to 2 years. This brings the maximum period into line with the length of time British students generally spend in further education (from November)
• stop Tier 4 dependants from taking a low or unskilled job, but allow them to take part-time or full-time skilled work (from the autumn)