Urgent! 5 year cap

[Zoidberg]

Hello everyone. I'm an undergrad student, currently starting my 2nd year. The visa I got for this degree was granted last year and will expire in 2014. I also have a 3 year BA degree from another university. Today - by complete accident - I found out about the 5 year cap. Does anyone know whether I'll have to leave the country at the end of this study year?? Is anyone else in my position? I spoke to the international office in my uni, they said that its very possible, but they were unsure and said that they'll find out more. Please help, I'm really anxious. If I knew I wouldn't have applied last year! how they can revoke my visa if I did everything according to the current law at the time? There must be thousands of students in my position, but I can't find anything specific about our situation. What i don't understand is how was I supposed to know about this change, would I have been just denied entry at the border next year? Thanks in advance!!
Ps if my uni tells me I have to leave, is there anyone I can talk to? Someone mentioned citizen bureau and my MP?

[Greenie]

I am surprised by your international office. The cap applies to people making applications. If your visa has already been granted then they can't just refuse you entry because of the new cap nor can they require you to leave before you visa expires due to it. However if you needed to repeat a year of your course you would be unable to extend your leave under tier 4 any further.

[Zoidberg]

I am surprised by your international office. The cap applies to people making applications. If your visa has already been granted then they can't just refuse you entry because of the new cap nor can they require you to leave before you visa expires due to it. However if you needed to repeat a year of your course you would be unable to extend your leave under tier 4 any further.

Thanks a lot for your reply! What they said doesn't make sense to me either, but I can't find any documentation to back it up. The Policy guidance, just says "87. the time that a Tier 4 student can spend studying at or above degree level will be limited to 5 years, except in the following
circumstances", (which I guess could be applicable to me?). Nothing specific about current students. Do you know if there's a law or something that these sort of changes in policy can be applied to existing visa holders?

[Greenie]

The passage you have quoted refers to people making applications. The fact that there is no mention of how this effects current students in the policy guidance goes to show that it does not effect students with current leave to complete their course. If the cap were to have such an effect you can bet that it would be common knowledge and indeed universities would have been in uproar about it.

There is nothing to back it up other than the lack of anything in the policy guidance and the immigration rules permitting ukba to curtail leave or refused entry in the circumstances you describe. The cap simply does not apply in this scenario.

[Zoidberg]

The passage you have quoted refers to people making applications. The fact that there is no mention of how this effects current students in the policy guidance goes to show that it does not effect students with current leave to complete their course. If the cap were to have such an effect you can bet that it would be common knowledge and indeed universities would have been in uproar about it.

There is nothing to back it up other than the lack of anything in the policy guidance and the immigration rules permitting ukba to curtail leave or refused entry in the circumstances you describe. The cap simply does not apply in this scenario.

Yeah, that makes sense. And the fact that I can't find any other students discussing this on the internet also supports this explanation. I guess my uni was just unaware of the subtleties. Many thanks for reassuring me!