Student Visa Appeal Success
Posted Under: Uncategorized
At the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) today, Bison UK’s appeal team scored another victory for justice against unfair entry clearance refusals.
The case before an Immigration Judge concerned Lori, a young Filipina who applied for a student visa, at the British Embassy in Manila, to travel to London to study for an NVQ in Health and Social Care.
NVQ’s, or National Vocational Qualifications, are work-related, competence-based qualifications. They reflect the skills and knowledge needed to do a job effectively, and show that a candidate is competent in the area of work the NVQ represents.
Over a million people a year study for NVQ’s in subjects ranging from IT to Hairdressing. NVQ training takes place ‘on-the-job’, in a work place setting and Lori’s course was combined with a 2 year paid work placement.
Lori had previously visited the UK in 2006 to see her Sister, Lisa, an NHS Nurse. Whilst here she decided that she would like to pursue studies in Health and Social Care and approached Bison UK, OISC registered immigration law practitioners, for a free consultation.
During the meeting her adviser explained that she could study in Britain, but would first need to return home to her native Philippines and apply for a student visa. Visitors or tourists from the Philippines cannot switch to another visa category whilst in the UK.
Although she had worked in a different field Lori was looking for a career change, and felt the NVQ course would suit her needs and enhance her future career prospects.
After attending a free presentation Lori’s Sister agreed to sponsor her student visa application. Bison UK prepared the application and enrolled Lori on an NVQ course with a reputable college listed on the ‘Department for Children, Schools and Families’ (Dfes) register.
Lori returned home to the Philippines, within the time limit of her visit visa, and applied for a student visa, but on this occasion she was refused. Lori and her Sister decided to exercise their right to appeal against the decision, and instructed her adviser to appoint an appeal specialist to handle the case.
The appeal process involves more than just filling in a form and lodging an appeal – see “Danny’s Visa Appeal” at www.visaappeals.com. In order to have any chance of winning an appeal you must have valid ‘grounds’, as there’s no point in just saying “the decision was unfair” or “it’s against my human rights”.
Appeal cases are heard in the UK before an independent Immigration Judge, something you should consider when appointing an adviser to handle your appeal. An overseas lawyer will not be able to represent you at the all important hearing and you may end up paying separately for a UK based advocate.
There is no charge for the appeal and you do not have to use legal representation. However, if you do not appoint anyone to represent you at the hearing your case will be decided “on papers” based on whatever information you and the Entry Clearance Manager sends to the AIT.
Prior to the hearing, the AIT requests an ‘appeal bundle’, including arguments, statements and evidence, all of which can take several months. The Entry Clearance Manager is given an opportunity to review the decision before the case goes to a full hearing.
In Lori’s case the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) had made unsubstantiated claims in his refusal, but she was not interviewed or given an opportunity to defend herself.
The ECO also recommended local training centres for “NVQ” courses, as an alternative to studying in the UK.
In her defence, Mr Turner, acting counsel for the plaintiff, argued that many of these centres were actually offering courses “based on NVQ modules”, and the centres were not accredited by the appropriate awarding UK bodies.
The Judge interrupted:
“Even if they are offering the same courses in the Philippines, so what?
“If that was the case nobody in India would go abroad to study since every course is available there”.
In other words, the existence of identical local courses is not a valid reason to refuse a visa.
Standards of education and training are clearly not the same in every country, which is why hundreds of thousands of students are studying in the UK - to gain an internationally recognised qualification.
In fact UK NARIC, the official body which compares overseas qualifications to the UK equivalent, had assessed Lori’s Philippine Bachelor of Science degree as “considered comparable to Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) standard”.
As a witness for Lori, I explained that the UK course has the further benefit of a work placement in a care home. The work placement is an integral part of NVQ training, which is why she wanted to train in the UK, where Care Standards and training are among the highest in the world.
Students contribute £4.7 billion to the UK economy – Home Office
Lori applied for a visa to gain a British qualification, in a British college with work experience in a British care home. Shouldn’t Embassy staff be recommending British training establishments? According to Home Office figures students bring £4.7 billion to the UK economy.
Lisa, who also appeared in court as a witness, confirmed that she and her Husband (both UK residents) had sufficient funds to maintain Lori during her two year stay.
Her application clearly met the immigration rules and should have been granted in the first place.
Following submissions and brief cross examination of witnesses by the Home Office representative, the Judge “allowed” the appeal and will be directing the British Embassy to issue the visa.
According to the British Council, the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education, commonly referred to as PMI2, is a “five year strategy to secure the UK’s position as a leader in international education and sustain the managed growth of UK international education”.
Students come to the UK to study and most need to work to help support themselves during their stay. The UK economy not only benefits from this much needed, flexible workforce, but also gains billions of pounds in taxes.
We should be opening our doors to students, not slamming them in their faces.
If you have been refused a visa or would like immigration advice and a free consultation please email me at: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk
For all the latest immigration news see
asad on 
ROCHELLE on 
Reader Comments
dear respected all staff,
as your hounred self must be aware that i would like to inform you i am belongs to poor family i like very much UK but i have not any money it was my dream when i was a child. so kindly i request your good selves to register my passport copy and give me a visa of UK then i will pay in my salary in UK i will be very thankful to you for this act of kindness.
a waiting for your kind and fevorable reply.
yours faithfully
nadeem shah
Dubai UAE
contact: 050-8342566
Please note. We do not issue visas. You need to apply to the British Embassy for a UK Visa. See also the UK Border Agency website. Regards
hello all
am an indian resident from new delhi india i applied for a working holiday visa for uk from india on november 2008 and today 08-april-2009 i got my results i got rejected and the visa officer has stated in the letter given to me that
if u have a previous application and immigration history this may have been cosidered
when the thing is that i have already been to uk once on a 1year working visa so howcome he havent seen that in my passport and also
he mentioned whats the gurantee that you will come back
this is soo simple i hv alrdy beeb to uk and came back in time so why they asking all this ??
please can anyone help me out what sort of appeal should i make??
See http://www.visaappeals.com
Hi! My application was received by UK Embassy through a registered mail, but VFS refused to receive it. What should i do next? Thanks!
You should insist VFS Global and the British Embassy carry on with your application as this is legal service according to the immigration Rules.
elo! I applied for student visa last feb. 2009. ive heard dat many NVQ’s application were regected. Y s dat so? Am afraid i might be regected. y is it dat d embassy is taking so long for d result to come out.? Thank you and God bless
Dear Sir,
GOOD EVENING,
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO GET U.K STUDENT VISA
I want to know if your appeal was allow ,how long does it take the uk embassy to issue the visa because my was allow in 6th feb,2009 but up to now i havn’t get any call fom the embassy but i read uk boarder agency document and they noticed appeal determination take 6-weeks to reach post but they usually fail why do they throw dust in our eyes,because the appeal took long time to reach determination and the embassy usually delay appellant why the UK government should do something about it
You could try chasing the Embassy, but they have been inundated with student visa applications (VAF) prior to Tier 4.
It can take a while - keep chasing the Embassy and send them a copy of the visa appeal (AIT) determination.
Hi Charles, my appeal has been granted. I have the AIT determination letter with me. What to do next in order to get my student visa? Thanks!
Dear Sir,
I have been told that my appeal was successful and the determination was sent to me on 27 march 2009, but i still didnt get any post or something confirming that, will you suggest me what i should do regarding that.
Thanks
The AIT will inform the British Embassy and they will issue your visa. Contact the Embassy or your visa agent.
The AIT will inform the British Embassy and they will issue your visa. It can take some weeks. Contact the Embassy or your visa agent.
Thanks alot for the advice, i’ll do the same.
could you tell me how much time do AIT take to inform the British Embassy or Visa Clearance Officer???
Hi, I have a query. I am a student in UK, have been studying for the past 5 years and now my course is nearing to end. My family i.e. Mum,dad and sister have been in UK for the past 5 years and they are permanent residents.I believe i was not granted this Permanent residence when my Mum moved here because i was 21(above 18). Is there a chance to stay in th UK if i appeal for it on grounds of immediate family in UK?
hello
first of all i would like to introduce my self u all ppl my name is rashid and iam form karachi pakistan well here i read many posted well i tell u in appeal u wil be given a visa but ur appeal wil take some time around 6to 7 month then u wil recive letter form ait okay
Hello there, got same question as Shah Zeb does, wonder how long does it actually take AIT to inform Home office the decision on the case? And how long does it take Home office to send a letter requesting our passport to have it endorsed? I’m so concerned about the process as I’m flying back home in the end of May
Thanks if anyone can provide useful information!!
You will receive a letter from the AIT/ call from the Emabssy - it will take a few weeks to issue the visa. If not, you need to follow it up with them. For more info on appeals see http://www.visaappeals.com
http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk
1
hello pls i was notified that my appeal will procedure to full hearing,was the decision not overturned by the ECM??
Notified by whom? Have you checked with or heard from the Embassy/AIT
Hello Kelly,
Thank you for your info. I got an email from UK Embassy Appeals Team asking for my Passport and other documents for visa issuance. My appeal was granted on April 6, 2009 and the Embassy notified me just yesterday. Indeed, it will take few weeks in order for Embasssy to receive the determination letter.
Thanks!
Congratulations on your visa appeal.
Hi Mark/Charles
My appeal was allowed on the same date as yours- April 6th, but never received the AIT determination letter nor heard from the home office. Did you have to contact AIT for this letter or even the home office?
What steps did you take after winning the appeal?
It can take 2 to 3 weeks for the AIT determination to arrive at UK addressess. The Embassies are also sent a copy.
Kiki,
You and the embassy will receive a copy of determination letter from AIT. It will take a few weeks.
i would like to ask about the appeal process after the descion made by AIT.
MY student visa extension was refused in nov 2008 i attend the hearing in jan 2009 my appeal was allowed on 21 of jan 2009 now its almost 4 months over my appeal is allowed home office did not contacted with me
what happens next.
See http://www.visaappeals.com
hi
can anyone help me please me and my dad applied for uk student dependent visa but they rejected our visas now our appeal is allowed from the date of promogulation it has been 4 week so how much time it will take means when do we got our call latter i m in INDIA
Niral Dave
24 May 2009, 06:08:19 am
hello sir
i have applied before tow month but now i didn’t get any letter from AIT
I send it to my applied to direct AIT (UK)
WAITING FOR UR KIND RESPONCE BY EMIAL
See http://www.visaappeals.com for appeals process
I am a student but my college has messed up everything by not registering me without my knowledge. My visa application was rejected by the home office as the college could not produce the details about my studentship within 10 working days.
Since then i have been running from pillar to post to sort my matter out. They kept on telling me that they have made an appeal and spending money for my case with a good solicitor. After almost an year of holding my passport along with all my documents the college wanted to get rid of me.
I could never imagine an education provider in UK could do this with anyone. I have been suffering mentally and physically these days and seek someone to help me.
My carrer, time and money has been destroyed and i am completly harrassed to do anything.
CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT.
i appealled and won.was told to come for my visa together with my sponsors statement of account,my current passport and updated student admission letter.my sponsors statement of account isn’t that impressive.will i still be isssued the visa or will i be denied?
If you have won the appeal the visa should be normally be issued. See http://www.visaappeals.com for further information on the AIT appeals process.
http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk
my appeal was allow on 6 feb,2009,and i have contacted the uk embassy in Ghana through e-mail with my determination attached but things has failed and my school in uk will start class on august4 2009 and i have not received any letter call from UK embassy in Ghana.
what should i do
hello
i am from nep and befor 9 month i register my student visa apeal on Ait .after that i didnt find any letter and any mail or call from Ait so i am very offset to waiting my result its take long time and my time is waisting day so pls kindly answer me that how time its take to come result? and how did i know about my appeal .i would be very thankful if i get my answer