 21.02.10 FINAL PHASE OF TIER 4 IS LAUNCHED
On 22 February the UK Border Agency have implemented the final phase of the points-based system's student tier. This has resulted in two major changes for Tier 4 sponsors.
Visa letters have become obsolete
From 22/02/2010, all potential Tier 4 students applying to the UK Border Agency from inside or outside the UK must use a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) in their application. All applications that do not contain a CAS will fall for refusal.
You will need to provide all potential students with a CAS reference number and your sponsor licence number (SLN). You will also need to give them all the information they will need when making their application. This information may include:
- student name;
- student date of birth;
- course title;
- course start and end dates;
- details of any financial sponsorship or deposits taken;
- documents that should be included as part of an application to prove qualifications;
- CAS number; and
- ATAS certificate (if appropriate).
This additional information will help the potential student to complete their application correctly.
If a prospective student has a visa letter issued before 22 February 2010, they can no longer use it to apply for a Tier 4 student visa. If you have issued a visa letter to a student who is intending to apply to us, you must replace the visa letter with a CAS. For out-of-country students, the date of application is the date when the application fee is paid - so a prospective student must be in possession of a CAS if they are paying their application fee today or later.
Mandatory reporting on students who have been assigned a CAS
Sponsors now must report via the sponsorship management system (SMS) on students who have used a CAS in an application to us.
Before you can issue CASs to migrants, you must have performed the transition exercise on the SMS.
It has also seen enhancements to the Tier 4 SMS:
- Users can now create a new CAS from the details of a previous CAS created in a batch.
- The main site study address will be mandatory for the assignment of a CAS.
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