Britain introduces tougher visa regime for students

New Delhi: The new visa regime introduced by Britain is set to make it tougher for Indian students to pursue education in UK colleges due to stringent conditionalities attached to travel and admission norms.
The new visa regime introduced since yesterday require colleges who recruit international students to be registered with the UK Border Agency, the educational institutions also have to report to the Agency if pupils engage in activities other than they have enrolled for.
Barbara Woodward, Director, Visa Services of the UK Border Agency said previously about 15,000 colleges enrolled international students for various educational courses but many were found wanting in providing quality education.
About 2,100 education providers (schools, colleges, universities) had applied for registration with the Border Agency and 1000 have been issued licenses, she said.
Before a student makes a visa application, he needs to ensure that he has an unconditional offer from a licensed education provider and has sufficient funds to cover course fees and living costs during his studies, Woodward said.
Under the new system the name of the university will be stamped along with the student visa, she told reporters here.
Woodward claimed that the new arrangements as part of Tier 4 of the points based system will make the visa process simpler, more objective and more transparent for applicants and prevent abuse of the immigration system.