Suspension of UK University visas

United Kingdom, 21st April: Glasgow Caledonian University happens to be the first UK university to be issues suspension of its foreign student license after being found suspicious of playing with the UK student visa rules.

It was found that some of the university students were found to be employed on full-time jobs in the UK. The incident came to the notice of the UKBA(UK Border Agency) officials after an inspection was conducted as part of the routine operations on the Glasgow Caledonian University last week.

The university has been provided with a period of 28 days for providing sufficient proof to convince the UKBA officials or it could be liable to suspension of its license. And if latter happens, it might prove to be a costly affair for the UK university since it earns millions of UK dollars every year as fees from the foreign students wanting to study in the institute.

Suspension of Glasgow University termed disproportionate—The decision of suspension of Glasgow university’s license has been termed to be highly disproportionate by an official spokesperson. He stated of sorting out the issue with concerned authorities for coming up with a possible solution.

The issue of suspension of the Glasgow university’s license is highly disturbing since the UK higher education sector is already struggling after the recent cuts announced by the government.

Non-EU students of the BSC Nursing course working full-time—The UKBA officials said as many as 150 non-EU students pursuing BSC Nursing(Professional Development) in the university were not working in accordance with the rules of the UK student visas.

As per the UK student visa rules, foreign students enrolled in study courses in the UK can work part-time for not more than 20 hours a week. However, contrary to the UK study visa rules, the international students were working full-time and did not spend time for studying. Such thing can only be allowed under the UK work visa rules, an official of the Whitehall stated.

Suspension of license could spell disasters for the university--Presently, there are a total of 1,700 foreigners enrolled in different study courses in the university. And in case the license of the university for sponsoring foreign students is suspended, the university will be in doldrums.

The principal of the university, Pamela Gillies, has stated that a minimum of £12m savings are needed over the period of next three years due to recently announced funding cuts.