Credibility testing

20. When you make your application to us you may be asked to undertake an interview, either

in person, or on the telephone. If as a result of this interview the Home Office is not satisfied

that you are a genuine student, or you cannot speak English to the required standard (judged as set out at paragraph 115 of this guidance), or your application is shown to fall for refusal under the General Grounds for Refusal, the application will be refused.

Tier 4 Policy Guidance version 11/2014 page 4 of 81

20 (a) Any information obtained during the course of the interview may be relied on for the

further purpose of assessing a sponsor’s compliance with their duties.

21. If you are asked to undertake an interview but do not attend without reasonable explanation being given, your application will be refused.

22. Your application will not be refused under paragraph 245ZV(k) without you being given the

chance to respond to questions at interview (a credibility or genuineness interview).

23. Detailed guidance available on the Home Office website provides further information about the operation of this requirement. This guidance can be found on our Home Office pages

TIER 4 SPONSORS

24. To apply under Tier 4, you must have a Tier 4 sponsor. All Tier 4 sponsors who want to provide courses for international students need a licence from the Home Office. Once they get a licence, they are added to the Tier 4 register of sponsors.

25. The register of sponsors has the name, location and rating of the organisation. You should check whether your sponsor has a licence by looking at the Tier 4 register of sponsors on our Home Office

26. A student’s Tier 4 sponsor will assign the student a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number, which is an official and unconditional offer of a place on a course of study. More information on the role of approved Tier 4 sponsors can be found in Annex 2.

Current requirements for Tier 4 Sponsors

27. On 21 April 2011 we made some changes to the sponsor licence requirements. On that date we:

• changed the requirements for educational oversight; and

• introduced a requirement for all Tier 4 sponsors to become Highly Trusted Sponsors;

And

• introduced an interim limit on the number of CASs that certain existing sponsors can assign.

28. If sponsors had a licence that was granted under the guidance that was in place before 21

April 2011 and they were not a Highly Trusted Sponsor or did not meet the new educational oversight requirements, or both, they were allowed to stay on the Tier 4 sponsor register but we limited the number of CASs they could assign.

29. Highly Trusted Sponsor status (which we call HTS) is designed to ensure that all education providers are taking their obligations on immigration compliance seriously. It recognises sponsors who show a good history of compliance with their sponsor duties and whose students comply with the terms of their visa or permission to stay in the UK (known as ‘leave to remain’).

30. ‘A’ rating is reserved for new licence holders as a transitional rating before being able to

apply for HTS. After 12 months sponsors must apply for HTS and must meet all of the

Tier 4 Policy Guidance version 11/2014 page 5 of 81

criteria we have set out for Highly Trusted Sponsors.

31. Under the sponsor ratings system in place before 05 September 2011 it was possible for some sponsors to be B rated. The Tier 4 sponsor guidance details the requirements for sponsors who are currently B-rated, sets out what sponsors must now do to keep their sponsor licence and provides information on transitional arrangements.

32. Legacy sponsors are Tier 4 sponsors who either:

• do not try to meet the requirements for educational oversight by the deadlines set out

in the sponsor guidance; or

• do try to meet the new requirements for educational oversight by the deadlines set out

in the sponsor guidance, but fail; or

• meet the mandatory requirements for Highly Trusted Sponsor but score a ‘near miss’ on the core measurable requirements and when they re-apply, score a second near miss.

If sponsors become legacy sponsors they will retain their original sponsor rating however they may not sponsor any new students or any existing students for a new course.

Full details of these requirements and all the Tier 4 sponsorship changes are available in the Tier 4 sponsor guidance, which is available on our Home Office

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 629