Hiya! Its been a while, after the national demo. A few stuff for you to help with and some good news as well. You are being represented adequately on the Joint education Task force. Lots of issues have been discussed and you are encouraged to respond to the consultation paper.

The Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are doing a joint consultation on fees charged for entry clearance and for extensions in the UK. The consultation is inviting the views of stakeholders, customers and the general public on the proposals.

As the Home Office implements the measures outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) review, which included a confirmation of the Government's plans to introduce the Points Based System, the Government needs to consider how immigration services are paid for. The question of particular relevance to international students in the consultation is: should education institutions include payment of visa fee within sponsorship and certificate fees? (Question 5).

For further information and to view the consultation paper, please visit the IND website: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/consultationdocuments/

What your students' union can do

We encourage students' unions to have a read and respond to the question 5 asked in the consultation paper. The closing date for the consultation is 22nd of December.

The good news is that, from next year all International Students who require visa to enter the UK will automatically be given their National Insurance (NI) numbers.

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students.

All links in blogs will open in a new browser window.

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/issahakukotomah/273375.aspx