BBc News

30 August 2012 Last updated at 05:58

London Metropolitan University's visa licence revoked

London Metropolitan University's Highly Trusted Status was suspended last month Continue reading the main story Related Stories

MP demands university visa answer London university 'panic' anger Students 'trapped in visa delay'

A London university has been banned from teaching overseas students, leaving more than 2,000 undergraduates potentially facing deportation. London Metropolitan University has had its ability to sponsor students from outside the EU revoked, and will no longer be allowed to authorise visas. The UK Border Agency said it had "failed to address serious and systemic failings" identified six months ago. A task force has been set up to help students affected by the decision. As well as stopping the university, which has 30,000 students in total, from accepting new applications, losing the licence could also affect thousands of existing overseas students at the university. The National Union of Students (NUS) said it could mean more than 2,000 students being deported within 60 days unless they find another sponsor

Overseas students 'cannot leave or stay' in visa delays

Students have drawn up a protest petition to highlight the delays to processing visas

Overseas students in the UK are complaining they are trapped in a legal limbo by visa delays which mean they do not have the right either to stay or go back home. Students claim they have waited for up to five months without their passports. Hundreds have signed a protest petition claiming their "basic rights" are being denied by delays in processing visas. The UK Border Agency said applications from students would be "worked through by the end of the summer".

'Complete outrage'
The National Union of Students (NUS) says this is becoming a "serious problem" and a "complete outrage" which puts at risk the ability of UK universities to attract overseas students. A US student, Jordan Junge, who has just finished a 17,000 masters degree at the London School of Economics, says she has been waiting for almost five months for her visa to be processed and her documents returned.
Continue reading the main story

Students should come to the UK to study, not work. That is why this April we stopped the automatic right for students to stay on and find work after their studies
End Quote UK Border Agency

The student from Colorado says that this became "extremely stressful" when her grandmother was taken seriously ill and her parents told her to come home. "Even if you order a pizza from Domino's you can track its progress - but I've no idea about what's happening to my passport." She says that there are other students who have children that they cannot get back home to see. Ms Junge says she wanted to carry out further study at the LSE which would have involved travelling outside the UK this summer, but the uncertainty over her documents is making this "very unlikely". And she says that the tightening of the student visa system is putting off many other US students. Along with other students, she was particularly concerned about the inability to communicate with UKBA, and so far the information she has obtained has come via her MP.

London university anger at overseas student uncertainty

London Metropolitan University has been angered by the lack of a decision on overseas students Continue reading the main story

Students 'trapped in visa delay' University has licence reinstated

A London university has set up a help-line for anxious international applicants - as doubts hang over its right to recruit overseas students. With only weeks before term, London Metropolitan University does not know whether it will be allowed to teach new or existing overseas students. The university says this lack of certainty has already cost 10m and risks "panic" among students.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) said: "We have not made a decision yet." London Metropolitan had its status as a "highly trusted sponsor" suspended in July which prevented it from being allowed to recruit overseas students. But with the new term approaching, there has been no decision on whether the licence will be revoked or reinstated. The university's vice chancellor Malcolm Gillies said the continuing doubt was "hugely worrying" for the university students and staff. Professor Gillies also warned of the damage to the wider UK higher education sector as it competed with other countries to recruit overseas students. "What message will it send abroad?" he said.

Anxiety
Although there have been other suspensions, so far no UK university has been fully stripped of its ability to recruit overseas students. As well as stopping the university from accepting new applications, losing the licence could also affect thousands of existing overseas students at the university, who might be in their second or third years.
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This situation is already costing real students real money and real distress
End Quote Liam Burns NUS president

According to the information published by the UKBA, if a university has its licence withdrawn, overseas students would only have permission to stay in the UK for 60 days. During this time, students would have to find another university or college to sponsor them. In the case of London Metropolitan this would affect about 2,700 current overseas students, who will have already paid for one or more years of a degree course. Overseas students have become an important income for universities - and blocking their recruitment will have considerable financial implications. The university has warned of a "growing 10m-plus hole" from the delay, which is continuing through the peak of the clearing process, when empty places are allocated.

Threat to courses

Professor Gillies says that the viability of many courses - both at London Metropolitan and other universities - depended on overseas students. The withdrawal of overseas students would mean a considerable "re-configuring" of courses, he said. There have been newspaper reports claiming that the licence was going to be withdrawn - but the UKBA says a final decision has not been made. In response, Prof Gillies had said: "To learn that we might have our highly trusted sponsor status revoked via a newspaper, with the panic that this can cause for thousands of students, is outrageous." A statement for the university said its priority was to provide advice to students and applicants "who have put their faith in our institution". "They will need clear information on their options for future study and timelines for securing those options," it said. The students' union at the university says it has received "hundreds of phone calls" from worried students and their families. "They are really scared about their future. These genuine students, coming from different parts of the world, are in a miserable situation," said Adnan Pavel, vice president of the students' union at London Metropolitan. The National Union of Students called for immediate clarification about the consequences for students "plunged into disarray" by reports the licence would be withdrawn. "This situation is already costing real students, real money and real distress," said NUS president Liam Burns. A statement from the UKBA said: "Any education provider has to meet strict standards, ensuring they provide high quality education, and take their immigration responsibilities seriously. We will not tolerate any abuse of the immigration system." There has been a long-standing balancing act between financial pressures to recruit more overseas students and concerns student visas were being misused as a way of entering the UK.