Extended Visas indefinitely for International Students.

To extend Visa stay rights for Tier 4 and other Student Visas that will potentially be affected by delayed Uni submissions and graduations due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Also opening up temporary relaxation on Visa work rights and extra funding for international students whose studies are affected.

Universities are shutting down and a-lot of practical courses will be severely affected by this. This especially concerns the delay of assessments and graduations for international students especially. International students should have their Visas automatically extended indefinitely to help them cope with the issues surrounding Covid 19.

Can we agree that it’s the right thing to do to ease what is already an awful situation and help those studying out.

Covid-19 represents a significant challenge to the UK, we are working to mitigate the risks the current outbreak represents to our country and to individuals. The Home Office is working to ensure no international students are unfairly penalised, in relation to immigration matters, due to current events which are beyond their control. All the exceptional measures detailed below will be in place initially until 31 May, and will be kept under review.

All international students whose leave expires before 31 May or has already expired since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, can get their leave extended to 31 May, by contacting the Coronavirus Immigration Team at the following email address: [email protected]. Students need to provide their full name, date of birth, nationality, existing visa details and all emails must be in English. The situation will be reviewed before 31 May. Students who have been unable to travel due to Covid-19, will not be considered to be overstayers due to circumstances outside their control.

We have also announced other exceptional arrangements to assist students and the education sector during this difficult period. Students who would otherwise be required to leave the country to apply for a further course of study, can now exceptionally apply to switch onto a further course of study from within the UK if their leave is due to expire before 31 May. This includes short-term students and migrants currently on visit visas. Students can exceptionally extend in country, provided they meet the visa requirements under Tier 4 and can commence a new course of study from the date of application.