New video aims to dispel ‘myths’ on visas

Film shows how Indian students successfully navigated the process

November 18, 2013

UK universities, the Home Office and the British Council are today launching a new film following Indian students on their journey to study in Britain in an attempt to dispel “myths” about the process.

Commissioned by the University of Sheffield, the video is available on YouTube and features two students, Arshi Aggarwal and Angesh Anupam, who successfully navigate the application and visa process.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “This is a great way of showing, to the many students around the world who want to study in the UK, how the process works and how it can become a reality.

“Prospective international students, and their parents, hear a lot of myths about the application process and the UK’s student visa system. Through these real life examples, they get a first-hand account of how the process actually works,” she added in a statement.

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The coalition has tightened up the student visa process since it came to office in 2010, introducing tougher English language checks and ending international students’ automatic right to work for two years after graduation.

Earlier this month the immigration minister Mark Harper accused universities of creating a “self-fulfilling prophecy” by publicly warning of “bad news” for international students under the regime.

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In 2011-12 there was a 24 per cent drop in the number of Indian students at UK universities, although this was offset by a large rise in the number from China. 

The video will be promoted on the Home Office and university websites.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com

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Reader's comments (1)

One point I did not see raised here is the increasing difficulty to administer EU visas when working with postgraduate students (including from India) working as part of EU research grants. This is the case I am confronted with in the past couple of years: we can now only obtain a Shengen-like visa entry for a (non-EU) PhD student (in my case from India) for either one entry within a month or a multi-entry visa for 3 months maximum at a time.. PhDs and typical EU projects last 3 to 4 years (sometime more). So we are facing the trouble of demanding a new visa for re-entry at least every 3 months (we often have meetings with consortium members outside the UK and in Brussels). I have noticed that more recently it is a matter of chance to get the 3 months multi-entry visa: no reasons are given by the visa granting organisations although our request is familiar to them. And of course, each time there are costs: in time wasted (quite literally) and in the fees required. This is becoming such a problem that it will no doubt influence future decisions on hiring "abroad" versus Home/EU candidates. Is this what "we" want to happen?

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