Immigration

Immigration New Zealand’s Chief Executive, Nigel Bickle, has been talking of his desire to improve visa issuance for international students in a bid to remain competitive with other international study destinations and grow the country’s market share. Visa application centres are also being planned in China and Hong Kong, while one opened in Mumbai, India […]

A solution has been found to the fiasco of having no appropriate body able to verify the quality and integrity of English language schools and various other private education providers in the UK. The government announced today that the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) will take charge […]

New Zealand is the latest country to amend its immigration regulations in an effort to weed out migrants using the student route primarily to access permanent residency. Immigration New Zealand has unveiled new rules that come into play from 25 July. In brief, student attendance and progress will be more closely monitored, as will student […]

A UK government policy on student visas that is founded on flawed and unreliable data will continue to be championed by the UK, in a political climate that values immigration over the economy. This was the message of Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, at the recent Annual Conference of the 440-strong membership organisation. […]

Accreditation surprise and low-risk countries revealed in UKBA re-jig: The UK Border Authority (UKBA) has announced that it won’t be using the accreditation agencies that it mandated previously to verify the quality of privately operated schools, such as English language schools, for Student Visa issuance. This leaves a question mark over the role that schemes such […]

The new UK student visa system ushered in by UKBA on April 21 this year will enable tighter checks on applicants’ financial integrity, after concern that there was abuse in the previous system. Up until April, students had to prove funds (of £600 per month or £800 per month if studying in London) upon application […]

A much more rigorous student visa system was ushered in by the UK government in March, only days after the Home Affairs Committee published its report cautioning against damaging the thriving educational export sector. The main changes include the abolition of work rights for students at private sector institutions, while those at further education colleges […]