Exceptional Assurance

[naija99]

I am enquiring this time for a close family friend.
He is a US citizen. He has been in the UK on a Tier 4 but left the UK on 22 March 2020 due to the university closing because of Covid. He returned to the UK on 16 August with his US passport and his visa expired on 26 August 2020.

Unfortunately he didn't apply for his Tier 4 extension until 22 Sept due to a delay in the CAS being provided.

His university have now stated if he did not apply for exceptional assurance by 31 Aug 2020 then he should leave the UK. They have advised him to contact CIT and get them to confirm his status.

Does this apply to him because he is a US citizen and they are usually permitted to enter and remain in the UK for 90 days without a visa.

Please could someone confirm a contact email for CIT and advise what he should do now?

[Zerubbabel]

The University cannot decide who stays and how leaves the UK.

However, as a sponsor, they are at liberty to withdraw the sponsorship and effectively cause the cancellation or curtailment of his Tier 4 visa.

I spoke with a couple of Tier 4 sponsors and they are very nervous about who they sponsor. If they feel that anything is not right, they pull the CoS. The reason they act like that is that the Home Office is very severe with them and any mistake, even genuine, may cause the loss of the license. This has major implications on the business and other sponsored students.

The sponsor doesn't have to be right or prove anything. The sponsor has the right to revoke the CoS.

[naija99]

Thank you
Apparently can’t universities do online checks to check the status of applicants?

[sah10406]

Does this apply to him because he is a US citizen and they are usually permitted to enter and remain in the UK for 90 days without a visa.

Yes. If he did not apply for Exceptional Assurance he has been an overstayer since 1 September 2020. The application he made on 22 September will be refused, so he might want to withdraw it. I assume the university issued the CAS assuming he would be applying in the USA, not making an application in the UK as an overstayer. They may decide to cancel the CAS.

Having now overstayed in the UK for more than 30 days, he also has a 12 month ban on making a new UK visa application in his home country. The 12 months starts when he leaves the UK.

There is no such provision for US nationals, or anyone else, to remain lawfully in the UK for 90 days after their visa expires. I don't know where you are reading that such a provision exists.

If he had waited in his home country and applied for the new Tier 4 visa there, none of this would have happened. Having come back to the UK and overstayed, this is now pretty much a disaster.

[naija99]

Thank you sah10406 for setting out the position clearly. This is indeed a total disaster. I've told him to make plans to leave the UK asap.
Is there any way around the ban? He is desperate to conclude his studies.

[sah10406]

This is indeed a total disaster. I've told him to make plans to leave the UK asap.
Is there any way around the ban? He is desperate to conclude his studies.

The damage is done re: the ban. His deadline for leaving the UK with no penalty was last Wednesday, 30 September (30 day overstay). He seems to have somehow thought that (1) he could do a late application in the UK way after the 14-day deadline for doing that, and that (2) making the application somehow stopped him being an overstayer. Maybe someone advised him that was fine. I hope not.

Many universities are now offering studies by distance learning, aimed at those who prefer not to travel to the UK, so he may be able to continue his studies that way with no visa required.

He would benefit from speaking to the international student adviser at his university, although they may not be amused that he made a doomed application using their CAS!