For many Filipinos, the pull of going abroad has always been strong, this is evidenced by the 8.6 million to 11 million overseas Filipinos estimated worldwide count, comprising about 11 percent of the total population of the Philippines.

This high number has and will continue to grow, with the Philippines economic development stalled making domestic work and career opportunities limited, the 10-12 percet increase of OFW’s deployed yearly is expected to hold for many years.

With many individuals seeking greener pastures abroad, a majority have access to direct and relevant information on how to go about their application. For the average Filipino, applying for a visa would involve months of planning and a lot of information gathering, after which, he or she would need to secure many documents required by the country applied for and finally allocate substantial  funding to make the application successful.

With such a time and energy consuming endeavor like this, many applications are still denied, for reasons as simple as a form improperly filled out, non-submission of required documents or  lack of sufficient funding or a negative mark from a previous visa.

With each country having their own specific immigration  rules and criteria, the risk of making an error on the application requirements is multiplied by the many, often contradictory information received by the applicant. It is for these reasons why it is prudent and advantageous to have guidance and/or assistance on visa applications.

But where does one get guidance or assistance on visa application?

While a few have enough money to secure the services of a  visa consultancy or agency, the processes they employ and the advice they provide are often basic and lacking, as such, unnecessary time and money is spent on the application.

Before one even start searching  where to get the guidance that will somehow secure a successful visa application,  one needs to consider the first and foremost question  before visa application – that is why do you need a visa?

Applying for a UK Visa

The United Kingdom Border Agency, through their website; http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk contains updated guidelines on the requirements, procedures and other vital information on how to apply for a  specific type of visa.

Specifically, there are four modes of  entering the UK, depending on the purpose of the travel -  to visit, to study, to work or join family. A visit means a short stay (generally of up to 6 months) in the UK while study means a course of study at a UK school, university or college. Work in essence means paid or unpaid (voluntary) work for an employer in the UK on the other hand ‘Join Family’ means coming to the UK, with the aim of staying for a long period or permanently, as the partner or family member of a British citizen or someone who has (or is applying for) temporary or indefinite permission to stay here.

In 2009, the UK census recorded a figure of 112,000 Filipinos living and working in the United Kingdom, and had 10,840 Filipinos gaining British citizenship in 2007, the second largest number of any nation after India.

A Note on the UK Points Based System

In 2008, immigration to the UK underwent a complete process of reform, replacing most of the current system of UK visas and UK work permits with a five tier points-based immigration service. The new system has replaced specialist routes to living and working in the UK such as the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, or HSMP, and superseded the UK work permit visa system, streamlining and rationalizing the wide variety of immigration visa services available at present.

The new system consists of the following five categories:

Tier 1 visa – Migrants with desirable professional skills

Tier 2 visa – Skilled workers with an offer of employment

Tier 3 visa – Temporary, low skilled workers

Tier 4 visa – Students

Tier 5 visa – Youth mobility schemes/ temporary workers

Tiers 1 and 2  offer potential routes to settlement in Britain and may lead to the opportunity to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR), often known as permanent residency.

In Tiers 2-5 applicants will need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship from the relevant sponsoring body. For Tier 2 visas this would be a sponsoring British company, for Tier 3 visas the operator of a specific worker scheme, for Tier 4 visas the educational institution and for Tier 5 visas the home government of the candidate.

Sponsors

What most Filipinos are unaware of, is that in order to be eligible to apply under certain categories of the Points Based System, an applicant must have a sponsor which is on the UKBA Register of Sponsors.

The register of sponsors lists all companies, schools and organizations that the UK Border Agency has licensed to employ migrant workers or sponsor migrant students. As of 31 March 2009, the register of sponsors replaced the register of education and training providers published by the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills (and previously by the Department for Education and Skills).The register of sponsors lists the name, location and sponsor rating of every registered organization.

How the UKBA Awards Sponsors Ratings

The rating of a tier 4 sponsor – such as school or college – reflects the track record that institution has in educating overseas students and is listed on the education provider’s entry on the Tier 4 Register of Sponsors. If a school or college is suspended from the register, they will only re-appear once they have satisfied the UK Border Agency’s concerns and will show their new rating following inspection.

A-rated Sponsors.  If an education provider is an A-rated tier 4 sponsors, it means:

there is no evidence of abuse of the system or breaking of the tier 4 rules; and

they have all the necessary systems in place to meet their obligations as a sponsor under the points based system.

B-rated Sponsors. Schools or colleges that are given a B-rating – often following suspension from the Register of Sponsors – it means that a UK Border Agency visiting officer has found evidence that the necessary systems are not in place to carry out their obligations as a sponsor.
B-ratings are awarded if any member of staff is found to have a civil penalty within the past five years. This also extends to any convictions which raise doubt as to the education provider’s owner’s ability to run a business.

This means if a school or college previously rated as A before suspension and re-rated as B following inspection, has been prosecuted by the UK Border Agency for breaches of Tier 4 rules and/or has been badly run overall as a business. This does not mean that all B-rated institutions are untrustworthy, as the sham colleges will have their licenses revoked, but it should force students and agents to ask more searching questions.

Highly Trusted Sponsors.  This rating is awarded  to   “those sponsors who can demonstrate the highest levels of compliance with their sponsor obligations and who have a proven track record of recruiting genuine students who comply with the UK’s immigration rules.”

Recent Developments

UKBA announced in July this year that,  from April 2012, all educational  institutions in the UK  wanting to sponsor students  will be required to be classed as Highly Trusted Sponsors (HTS) and become accredited by statutory education inspection bodies.

Other restrictions, such as the requirement of overseas students to speak a determined level of English, were brought in at the same time, as part of the Government’s reforms of the immigration system, to tackle abuse and bring net migration down to ‘sustainable levels’.

The revised guidance sets out what will happen to existing Tier 4 sponsors  who do not apply for Highly Trusted Sponsor  status by the deadline and details of transitional arrangements for sponsors who do not already have Highly Trusted Sponsor status.

In a statement, a UKBA  spokesperson said, “The changes to the student visa system will create a system where every student coming to the UK attends a legitimate course at a legitimate institution.”

Furthermore,  by next year, UKBA  will operate only two ratings –  ‘A  rating’ and  ‘Highly Trusted Sponsor rating.’ With this recent developments, tt is highly probable that many further and higher education private institutions will be forced to closed down due to the new changes introduced into the UKBA Tier-4 policies.

It is thus imperative for students wanting to pursue postgraduate studies in UK to  check the register to see whether the education provider that they  have chosen to study with is on the register and check the UKBA rating awarded to the education provider.  Here is the link for the register:

 http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pointsbasedsystem/registerofsponsorseducation

Source: OFW Journalism Consortium

The OFW Journalism Consortium is a global non-profit media service reporting on the migration experience of Filipinos as well as policies and other issues that concerns the overseas Filipino workers. The Consortium now enters on its ninth year as a global nonprofit media service, servicing most media outfits both here and abroad. Our stories are republished by media outfits, making the Consortium one of the most trusted sources of news on OFW issues.