Student Visa - Will poor attendance affect extension?

[thefirstleachy]

Thanks for reading,

My girlfriend is currently on a student visa which is due to expire in May 2007. She arrived in the UK in October 2005 after she was originally granted a 6 month visa to do a short course here.

We applied for an extension in February 2006 as she had enrolled on a genreral english language course for a full academic year and she was given her current visa.

I understand that there is a 2 year maximum time limit for people who study on short courses, below degree level.

However i am confused and need assiatance.

My girlfriend wants to extend her stay and would like to do a certificate/diploma in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality which will eventally allow her to study for a degree. Each level is a year in length, so as i understand things she will not be classed as studying short courses and therefore will be allowed to stay for longer than 2 years.

Is this correct?

Further, her attendance on her first course was 85%, however on her second course it was 65%. Will this affect her visa application?

Would it be easier for her to go back to her home county and apply for a new student visa there.

Please help![/b]

[John]

her attendance on her first course was 85%, however on her second course it was 65%. Will this affect her visa application?

Yes, it could well do. The provider of the course is obliged to report non-attendance to IND, so without a good excuse a poor attendance rate might lead to renewal problems.

Would it be easier for her to go back to her home county and apply for a new student visa there.

No, it would probably make no difference to the outcome.

Blunt question .... what is her excuse for a poor attendance rate?

[thefirstleachy]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

Straight answer, it is a number of factors, namely:-

- working at night whilst studying and suffering from studentitis;
- lack of enthusiasm for her course due to the quality of the education provided;
- the teacher (from what she has told me) was a bit of a bully towards her;
- lack of insight or vision as to how this may effect her future study.

She really wants to go to University and i just hope that this does not affect her future.

Any suggestions?

[John]

My wife is currently doing a Masters Degree course. She is now a British Citizen, so clearly has no visa worries, but lots of the other students are in the UK on student visas.

It has been made abundantly clear that a poor attendance record will lead to student visa renewal problems. IND is clearly getting very tough about this.

I hope she is not working more than 20 hours per week during term-time?

[thefirstleachy]

i have been reading the Diplomatic Service Procedures, chaper 12, whereby it states that:-


Special care should be taken when dealing with applications from persons who:
.
.
.
are unable to explain satisfactorily poor attendance records for previous study.

In such cases, the applicant's motivation for choosing a particular course should be explored in greater detail in order to establish that he is not merely seeking entry to the UK with the intention of seeking work.

Can you shed any light on this? Do they mean they would want to interview my girlfriend?

I think i would actually prefer this to being judged on paper.[/quote]