UK Student Visa Applicants Will Rely On Highly Trusted Sponsors

The UK Border Agency announced today that all UK colleges and universities who want to bring international students in can apply for a highly trusted sponsor licence starting today. The applications will be carefully reviewed and the list of approved educational institutions will go live in April. Under the UK student visa guidelines, sponsors are rated for their procedures and track record in bringing sponsored visitors to the United Kingdom. The new highly trusted sponsor licence will have nothing to do with the academic achievements of a particular educational institution, but rather with their track record in recruiting genuine international students who follow the restrictions of a UK student visa holder.

The new licence system will be highly beneficial for all colleges and universities who will be included in the final highly trusted sponsor list. It will also help the UK Border Agency to follow closer the activities of sponsors and UK student visa applicants who seek loopholes in the system in order to abuse it. Sponsors who have a high rate of non-attendant students will have their licences revoked or suspended.

New UK Visa Fees

This week the Parliament has approved new immigration visa fees which will become effective April 6, 2010. The justification for the news fees is that they used to be set at levels below the administrative costs of the service. Foreign nationals who plan to apply for UK student visa, UK work visa and UK settlement visa should check out the new fees.

One drastic increase of fees is seen for UK settlement visa, for which the fee has gone up from 585GBP to 644GBP for the main applicant and from 585 GBP to 1680 GBP for any dependants.

If you plan to apply for a UK visa, make sure you download the correct application form and pay the correct fee.