Travelling after final exams

[Shadyoakdrive]

Hi Everyone,

I am a final year student at a university in the UK. My tier 4 visa expires at the end of October.
I have been lucky enough to secure a graduate scheme with a tier 2 sponsor that will commence sometime in September.
As my exams would be done by early June, I would definitely want to travel around Europe after the exams.(Probably come back around early July)

However, after reading around from some university websites such as:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/service ... ravel.aspx
http://www.city.ac.uk/international/int ... graduation

it seems that I might not be allowed to come back into the UK with my Tier 4 visa. As I am a resident of a non-visa country, I could still come back to the Uk for 6 weeks. However, I would need to be on my Tier 4 visa when I apply for the Tier 2 conversion.
Does anyone know how likely it is for me to face issues at immigration?

Edit: I also plan to postpone my Graduation ceremony to December so I might not be able to get the letter from my uni saying that I will attend the ceremony in July

Thanks!

[sah10406]

Your Tier 4 visa does not allow unlimited re-entry to the UK during it its validity. It allows unlimited re-entry to the UK to study the course for which it was issued. If your course has finished, and you leave the UK, it is not logical or reasonable to expect to use your Tier 4 visa to enter the UK for a different purpose.

You need to imagine what would your Tier 4 sponsor say if the BFO rings them to ask if they are expecting you. They would say no, that person's course with us has finished.

If your priority is to switch into Tier 2 within the UK, I advise cancelling or postponing your travel until you have the Tier 2 visa.

[Shadyoakdrive]

Your Tier 4 visa does not allow unlimited re-entry to the UK during it its validity. It allows unlimited re-entry to the UK to study the course for which it was issued. If your course has finished, and you leave the UK, it is not logical or reasonable to expect to use your Tier 4 visa to enter the UK for a different purpose.

You need to imagine what would your Tier 4 sponsor say if the BFO rings them to ask if they are expecting you. They would say no, that person's course with us has finished.

If your priority is to switch into Tier 2 within the UK, I advise cancelling or postponing your travel until you have the Tier 2 visa.

Thanks for your answer. I understand your point.

What if i were to come back on a date before the course end date (as stated on my CAS)?
Have seen the university of Durham suggest this at : https://www.dur.ac.uk/immigration/trave ... -enter-uk/

I would probably have not yet received my results(or maybe just have) and so would not know if I have completed my course. Would this be a sufficient reason to expect to be able to return as part of my studies?

Thanks so much!

[sah10406]

What if i were to come back on a date before the course end date (as stated on my CAS)?

That is completely different. You can re-enter the UK at any time during your course.

[Shadyoakdrive]

What if i were to come back on a date before the course end date (as stated on my CAS)?

That is completely different. You can re-enter the UK at any time during your course.

Thanks again sah for the quick reply!

The confusion comes about because on my student status letter, it states that the "End-of-registration is 5/6/2015" but on the CAS itself, the "Course end date" is 30/06/2015.

So I'm assuming that the important date is the one on the CAS as its used to get my visa?

Sorry to bother you with so many questions. Just want to get this out of the way before I book my travels.

Thanks so much and have a nice day!

[sah10406]

I don't understand why there are two different dates. Best check this direct with your sponsor.

[Shadyoakdrive]

I don't understand why there are two different dates. Best check this direct with your sponsor.

I think the "End-of-registration" date is the date the exams are over. The course end date is the date the results are meant to be out I guess.

I've called my sponsor but I've been getting conflicting information (They tell me that I will not have a problem even if I return after the course end date).

Anyway looks like theres nothing else that can be done. might just gotta hope that it goes smoothly.

[sah10406]

I've called my sponsor but I've been getting conflicting information (They tell me that I will not have a problem even if I return after the course end date).

That is terrible advice! It sounds like you should go by the end date of your CAS. Trying to use your Tier 4 visa to enter the UK after that would be a very bad idea.

[Shadyoakdrive]

I've called my sponsor but I've been getting conflicting information (They tell me that I will not have a problem even if I return after the course end date).

That is terrible advice! It sounds like you should go by the end date of your CAS. Trying to use your Tier 4 visa to enter the UK after that would be a very bad idea.

My sponsor has also told me to show my job contract to the immigration officer to explain why I want to be back on a tier 4 visa. I find that strange as that is contrary to a lot of information that I find elsewhere.

I've read everywhere else that it is never a good idea to talk about work when you're on a tier 4 visa.

[sah10406]

You should complain to the Manager of the student advice service about that advice, or even to the OISC. If a student acted on that advice, they could mess up their chance to apply for Tier 2 in the UK.

[Shadyoakdrive]

You should complain to the Manager of the student advice service about that advice, or even to the OISC. If a student acted on that advice, they could talk to up their chance to apply for Tier 2 in the UK.

I see. I'm sure they didn't give the advise with any ill intent. Maybe they were just ill-informed as "most students don't face any problems when they come back for graduation".

I guess I'll just come back before the end date of the CAS and just explain that I'm back to collect my results, transcript and etc. Hopefully that'd be deemed a good enough reason or I'll just have to go back home and apply for the Tier 2 from there. Don't really understand the logic behind the system being like this but oh well.

Thanks so much for your time and input though! Really appreciate it!

[Shadyoakdrive]

I've finished booking my around Europe trip and it seems that I'll end up at Dublin before coming back to the UK.
As dublin and UK are from the CTA, would me arriving into the UK without and entry stamp cause problems when I try and switch my Tier 4 to Tier 2?

Thanks!

[sah10406]

No, if you re-enter the UK before the end of your course.

[Shadyoakdrive]

No, if you re-enter the UK before the end of your course.

Yeap! Will be doing that! Will come back from Dublin a day before my course ends and wait till my employer provides the COS for me to apply for a tier 4 to tier 2 switch.

Was just worried that they might wonder how I got into the UK if I dont have an entry stamp. But it shouldnt matter as my Student Visa is still valid till end Oct.

Once again, Thanks so much for you advise and have a nice day!