1. Anthony Dangerfield and Rosie Bell
Student Immigration
Anthony Dangerfield and Rosie Bell
International Student Office, Academic Division

2. International Student Office
Visa advice
Oversee University’s student immigration compliance responsibilities
Support student mobility activities
Administer some specific international funding awards
Maintain and develop information and guidance for international students on webpages
Anthony

3. Agenda University’s Visiting Student guidelines
What is a sponsor licence?
Institutional compliance responsibilities
Visiting students: Tier 4 vs Short-term study
Process to support a visiting student on Tier 4
Process to support a visiting student on Short-term study
6. Case studies
7. Brexit
Anthony

4. University’s guidelines on visiting students
Produced by Standing Committee on Student Mobility.
Maximum time a student visitor can be at Cambridge is one year.
Standard English language requirements should be used as a guide.
Student visitors are liable for an appropriate fee.
Student visitor’s agreement should be completed and signed.

5. What is a sponsor licence?
Tier 4 Sponsor licence granted by the Home Office. Enables University to accept students from outside the EEA.
Institutions have responsibility for students they support in coming to the UK.
University ‘sponsors’ the student’s visa, which is linked to a specific institution.
Sponsor licence requires the University to undertake a number of compliance responsibilities.
Anthony

6. Tier 4 compliance responsibilities
The University must hold the following for each sponsored student under Tier 4:
Documentary evidence used as basis of acceptance.
Evidence of immigration permission
Up to date UK contact details
Evidence of attendance monitoring
Report changes in circumstances to the Home Office.
Anthony

7. Compliance responsibilities
In addition, the University must ensure all students have permission to study in the UK:
A sponsor has a duty to comply with all aspects of the Immigration Rules and sponsor guidance, and support immigration control, including taking steps to ensure that every student at your institutions has permission to study in the UK throughout the whole period of their study.
Tier 4 Sponsor Guidance, version 01/2019
Responsibility to advise the student appropriately.
Anthony

8. Who requires a visa to study in the UK?
All nationals from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland
European Economic area =
European Union + Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
Switzerland part of the single market
The countries of the EEA are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Anthony

9. Visiting students - two options
Short-term study
Tier 4
Less than six months
Six months or more
Course of study or research towards studies overseas
Part of a full-time degree overseas
Letter of support
Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies
May require ATAS clearance
Attendance monitored informally
Formal attendance monitoring
University’s English language standard
Certain nationalities can obtain visa at the UK border
All must apply for the visa in advance of travel to the UK
No work/internship permitted
Can undertake a work placement

10. Other Activity
A student coming to undertake a placement or period of research that is not part of their course at their overseas institution cannot be supported on the student route.
HR Compliance should be contacted to consider whether Tier 5 sponsorship is possible

11. Is a visa required for Cambridge?
ISO provides advice to departments. It is useful to know the following in the first instance:
Nationality of student (passport copy)
Purpose of the visit – type of activities to be undertaken
Length of the visit
Student’s status overseas
Previous studies in the UK
We hope that the material already covered has given you a better understanding of whether a visa is required, and if so, what type, however ISO welcomes queries from departments.
In order to give accurate advice ISO need the following information: The student’s nationality (not always the same as their country of permanent residence, so we’d advise departments to have seen the student’s passport);
Whether they’ll be coming for study or work placement and whether this is related to their course at their home institution;
How long the planned visit it;
Their status at their home institution, including the dates of their current course. If they’re on a students visa, whether Tier 4 or short-term study, they must be registered as a student for the fully duration of their visit.

12. Tier 4 process for visiting students
Host Department sends ISO completed CAS proforma and supporting documentation
ISO creates a CamSIS record once visit is confirmed
Where relevant, ISO produces ATAS letter and student applies for ATAS
ISO issues CAS statement to student by
Student makes visa application in their country of residence and obtains visa.
Departments should contact ISO with all the relevant paper at least 3 months in advance of the student's visit.

13. Tier 4 compliance – visiting students
Host institution should hold the following for each visiting student:
Documentary evidence used to accept student, including:
Transcripts
Assessment of English language proficiency
Copies of passport and visa
Up to date UK contact details (term time address & phone number
Termly monitoring record
The Department needs to keep these records on file for the length of the student’s visit plus 12 months, or the UKVI audit, whichever is sooner.
Please send a copy of these to ISO for our information

14. Tier 4 – ATAS proforma ATAS clearance needed for:
Postgraduate level study/research in certain science & technology related fields (Tier 4 & Short Term Study).
Determined by CAH3 code of the area of study at Cambridge.
Check with Departmental Teaching Office for CAH3 code.
ISO have a JACS-CAH3 mapping document.
Research statement must be written by the Department, not the student.
Application processing time is 20 working days.
ATAS clearance must be received before CAS (or Short Term Study letter) is issued.
ATAS proforma

15. Tier 4 – vignette issued in passport
30 day entry vignette issued in passport
When a student is granted a Tier 4 visa, they are issued with a 30 day entry vignette in their passport which allows them to enter the UK.
Within 10 days of arrival in the UK, they must their Biometric Residency permit (BRP), which replaces the vignette as their permission to study in the UK.
The student can chose at the point of application where they wish to collect their BRP. This can be the Post Office or the University.
Students coming at the beginning of each term may collect it from the University, they will need to use the specific ACL code. This is given both in their CAS and on the ISO website. Students coming at other times should collect it from the Post Office.
Students should not be permitted to start activity until they have shown their BRP and passport to their Host Department

16. Tier 4 - BRP
Tier 4 visa, in the form of a Biometric Residence Permit, collected on arrival in the UK:
Check that the name, start and end date are correct
Some student will be required to register with the Police. If so, this will be noted on the BRP.
Advise students not to carry it round with them on a daily basis
Colour scans of both the front and back
Either upload to CamSIS via PBI Photo Status (instructions are in Visiting student guidance document) or send to ISO

17. Tier 4 attendance monitoring
Departments must arrange for the student to register in person at the start of each academic term and record contact on CamSIS.
At this point the student should be asked if any of their contact or immigration details have changed.
Departments should have mechanisms in place to recognise if a student is no longer engaging with study outside of termly registrations.
Records should be maintained of meetings with supervisors.
If a student misses an agreed contact, the International Student Office should be informed.
Contact points should be arranged within the 1st week of each full term if possible, but some student may not arrive until later in the term.
ISO will send around a reminder before each term.
We expect departments to monitor student progress and engagement to the same level as other students.
As there is not formal mechanism for reporting progress (CGSRS), Depts need to keep records of supervisions and lab meetings

18. Tier 4 compliance – visiting students
Departments to inform ISO of any of the following changes for reporting:
New arrival date
Early completion of studies
Breaks in study.
Unexplained absence
New UK visa obtained
The Department needs to keep these records on file for the length of the student’s visit plus 12 months, or the UKVI audit, whichever is sooner.
Please send a copy of these to ISO for our information

19. Short Term Study process for visiting students
Department contact ISO with details of the visit to confirm eligibility
Where relevant, Department produces ATAS letter and student applies for ATAS
Department issues the student with a short term study invitation letter via (copy to ISO)
Student makes STS application in their country of residence /requests entry under STS at UK border
Student arrives in Cambridge and brings passport and visa/stamp to host institution.
Department keeps copies on file for 6 months or UKVI audit
Lead in time – can take up to 2 months for a Visa national requiring ATAS clearance

20. Short term study – visa in passport
This is an example of a short term study visa issued in the student’s passport.
It is what you would expect to see in the passport of a Visa national who applied for a short term study visa in advance.

21. Short term study – stamp in passport
For non-visa nationals who have requested entry under the short term study route at the border, you would expect to see a stamp in the passport.
This is valid for 6 months from the date they were stamped into the country by the immigration officer.
The STS stamp is single entry. If they leave the country, they need to re-apply for STS upon re-entry, so would need to have their STS letter & other supporting documents with them.
It is at the discretion of the Border official to decide whether to grant them entry under the STS route.

22. Erasmus+ work placement students
Departments are able to host students for work placements or internships under the Erasmus scheme
The majority of these students are EEA nationals and so do not require a visa
For those who are non-EEA nationals a Tier 5 (GAE) visa is required:
Arranged between the Home Institution and the British Council
British Council won’t communicate the progress of the visa with the Host Institution
These often have long delays so you may need to rearrange start dates
Erasmus+ is the only scheme which permits non-EEA nationals to undertake work experience in the UK. Placement can between 2 & 12 months in duration Please let ISO know if your department will be hosting E+ students whether or not a visa is required. Non-EEA nationals require a Tier 5 visa regardless of the length of their
Leave at least 3 months for the student to apply for their visa. Host institution will need to take copy of passport & visa as for Tier 4, however monitoring in CamSIS is not required.

23. Standard visitor visa Mainly intended for tourism or business.
Only allows study in specific circumstances:
up to 30 days
must be an extra activity and not main purpose of visit

24. Academic Visitor Sub-category of standard visitor visa.
Leave granted for up to 12 months.
For an individual highly qualified in their own field of expertise and currently employed in that field at an academic or higher education institution.
Current PhD students and recent graduates do not qualify as Academic Visitors.

25. What about Brexit?
Students who come to live in the UK by 31 December will be able to stay on the same terms as currently.
Will be able to apply for temporary or settled status.
Future immigration system currently unknown.
Anthony to update

26. Contact us
International Student Office: Telephone: