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Welcome, Bienvenue, Willkommen, Bienvenidos, Khush amaadiid

Hi, I'm Saima Yousaf, the International Students' Officer at NUS. If you have any comments, please drop me an email. To see my own thoughts and ideas about the campaign, please read my blog.

Staff contact: Mark Leach, Research & Policy Officer

Latest convenor blogs

Student Section Week: International Students Conference

Added on 15/03/2010

The 2010 International Students Conference will be held on 28^th & 29^th April at the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham. The two-day event will be an exciting opportunity for International Students Officers, Education Officers, Presidents and others from students’ unions to explore a number of important issues facing international students in the UK.

The first day will be a mixture of workshops and plenary sessions covering:

- The PMI-funded ‘Internationalising Students’ Union Project – several workshops looking at different aspects of exiting good practice within SUs as well as space to share new ideas about monitoring international student involvement in your union, working with cultural societies, supporting student parents, promoting democratic participation, induction and volunteering.

- Several important areas of policy including teaching & learning, immigration, fair banking practices, employability as well as an opportunity to hear about the latest chapter of the NUS/HSBC Student Experience Research which provides a valuable insight in to the experience of international students in the UK.

The second day will be your opportunity to elect a Committee and Full-Time Officer to lead the campaign over the next 12 months, as well as to debate the future policy direction of the campaign.

Click here to register

Key dates:

There are two opportunities to submit motions to the Conference. One of these is by the 9th of April and the other is on conference itself. See CD1 for more information.

CD 1 - Notice of Section Conference: Includes details of the policy process, who can attend and the elections available
CD 2 - Standing Orders of the International Student Section
CD 3 - Agenda for the Conference (published soon)
CD 4 - Motions 1 (Due after 9th April)
CD 5 - Joining Instructions (published soon)
CD 6 - Election Rules and Schedules (includes details of how to stand for the elected positions)
CD 7 - Candidate Manifestos (Due after 9th April)

Please note that this Conference is part of Student Section Week and will run directly after the Mature & Part Time Students Conference and the Postgraduate Students Conference - there are discounts available for delegates that choose to attend more than one. To find out more, visit the registration page.

Changes to Immigration Rules

Added on 24/02/2010

The Government has announced that international students from outside Europe wanting to come to the UK to study will be required to meet stricter entry criteria, the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson has announced.

The Government has also announced the immediate cessation in processing of Tier 4 student applications in the visa application centres in New Delhi Jalandhar and Chandigarh (North India), Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong (Bangladesh) and Kathmandu (Nepal). Concerns have been raised in Parliament by Rob Marris MP about the timetable for restarting processing.The full details of these changes are detailed in this briefing.

International Students' Survey 2010

Added on 05/02/2010

The NUS International Students' Campaign has launched its 2010 survey. The survey is your chances to talk about what issues affect YOU and what you think NUS and students' unions can do.

It is important to ensure as many students complete the survey as possible to ensure we have a solid evidence base for our campaign. Please forward the information on to anyone in your union or institution that might be interested.

You can access the survey by clicking this link.

If you complete the survey you could win one of three prizes of £50 of Amazon vouchers! Details in the survey itself.

The survey closes on 5 March 2010 so get filling it in now!

International Students as Sabbaticals

Added on 01/02/2010

International Students as Sabbaticals

Introduction

In 1999, NUS were successful in persuading the Home Office to extend concessions under the Immigration Rules to enable international students to take up sabbatical officer posts in students’ unions immediately following their graduation. Prior to this, international students were only allowed to undertake sabbatical office within the duration of their course.

The Points Based System

The introduction of the “points based system” caused some headaches in this area and NUS spent a considerable amount of time lobbying, briefing and liaising with the UK Border Agency, BIS and ministers to ensure that the concessions surrounding international students remained such that they were treated under “Tier 4” as students (rather than as extended skilled work placements as the UKBA originally proposed)

Internationalising Students' Unions Project

Added on 17/01/2010

NUS are pleased to announce the launch of the second stage of the Internationalising Students' Unions Project funded by the Prime Minister's Initiative (PMI). Over the next two years 40 students’ unions will receive support in auditing their work with international students, developing their international students’ strategy, and sharing best practice.

There has been a 40% increase in international student recruitment over the last ten years, and students’ from outside the UK now make up 14% of the HE population. For students’ unions to be respected as the voice of the student body, it is vital that international students are engaged and represented as effectively as possible.

In 2008/09 a dedicated NUS project group worked with students’ unions to develop a strategic framework and audit tool which you can download here.

Joanna Purkis will be leading the project and can be contacted by email here.

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