Tier 2 Visa Made Easier From Tier 4 Visa In The UK After A Rule Change

24 Feb 2018

In the UK, new visa rules, have been put into effect, which makes it easy for a Tier 4, student visa holder, to change over to a Tier 2 General visa. These changes, from January 11^th, 2018, permit them to apply for a change over to a Tier 2 visa, soon after completing their degree course and do not require waiting for the results.

Many such students are not in a position for staying in the country owing to the expiry of their visa prior to receiving their degree level examination results. The present norms make it easy for the tier 4 students to apply before the declaration of their exam results. When a Tier 4 student, is forced to leave it becomes difficult to Get a Tier 2 visa. Employers also need to perform in a resident labor market test and also pay the Annual Immigration Skills Charge.

Before the rule change, non-PhD students were subjected to a long wait for the declaration of their results prior to applying for the change in visas. In the waiting period, many graduates were unable to find a job leading to the expiry of their visa.

In case a student is not successful in finding a work in the months succeeding the completion their degree course, they are required to return to the country of their origin.

Less international Tier 4 Visa students

Rigid UK visa rules take the blame for decreasing numbers of foreign students in the Kindom.  In order to facilitate prevention of foreign talent from departure, Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor has called for a new class of After-Study Work Visa.

He suggested that such a visa need to be different from the Tier 2 route and must enable students, to undertake a work for 12 - 24 months, on completing graduation. The government disallowed the idea and has introduced relaxed rules to pacify the critics of the government regarding their approach towards international students.

These relaxed rules have come after extensive discussions between the universities and the UK government.

Tier 2 Visa Pilot scheme

In January, the UK government made an announcement to extend a pilot student visa scheme in 23 universities, which will enable non-EU students to stay for six more months for finding employment after completing their course. These Universities are responsible to do the eligibility checks.