London Metropolitan student visa rights revoked

Thousands of non-EU students at London Metropolitan University have 60 days to find a course at another institution or get out of the UK, after the Home Office stripped the institution of its right to sign off visas for foreign students.

The large London university, which had 3,100 full-time foreign students in 2010-11, had its “highly trusted sponsor” status revoked for failing to monitor visa recipients closely enough. The UK Border Agency said it found problems with 61 per cent of randomly selected files during a recent audit.

The decision came as figures showed net migration to the UK remains high – at an estimated 216,000 in 2011 – in spite of Home Office measures to cut the number of visas issued .

Student visas make up about 40 per cent of all immigration.

David Willetts, universities minister, said the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the sector regulator, and Universities UK, the sector’s representative group, were setting up a task force to help students find courses within the time limit. New London Met overseas students were advised “not to travel” to the UK.

Mr Willetts said: “It is important that genuine students who are affected through no fault of their own are offered prompt advice and help, including, if necessary, with finding other institutions at which to finish their studies.”

However, Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister said the announcement left “ thousands of genuine international students in an impossible situation of finding a new place to study, just days before the beginning of a new university term.

He added that, while Labour backed tackling bogus colleges and students, the way the decision had been drawn out would “make many think again about whether to come to the UK to study and will cause lasting damage to the international reputation of the UK university system”.

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