Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 526-7, on student visas, if she will publish details of the successful pilot with one university on ensuring overseas students return home once their course is completed.

James Brokenshire

Foreign national students who had been served with an adverse immigration
decision were, at times, encountering a delay in receiving their travel
documents back from the Home Office. On occasion this resulted in their
immigration status changing to an overstayer.

The pilot referred to was conducted through an informal relationship between
the South Central Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) team and the
International Student Advisors embedded within two local Universities. Through
this link, those whose leave has been curtailed, have had an adverse decision,
or wish to depart the UK are provided with local assistance by the Immigration
Enforcement team. The pilot has enabled the local ICE team to facilitate the
return of travel documents quickly, resulting in an earlier departure for the
student. This has benefits for both the student and University as becoming an
overstayer could jeopardise future applications from students to continue their
studies. During 2013/14, fifty students were assisted in this way from two
Universities (this is local data taken from local records that has not been
sourced from an official database).

The Government is looking at how this example of local good practice can be
extended nationally.