UK tightens student visa rules for Kenya

In cases where a student wishes to change their course but stay at the same college, the college will be required to issue a new CAS and report the change to UKBA who will demand a fee for the change.

“UK Border Agency will accept applications that are supported solely by visa letters if they have been lodged and paid for on or before February 21, 2010. Any applications that are paid for on or after February 22, 2010 and are not supported by a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies will be refused,” the UK government said in a statement.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Mr Alan Johnson said the crackdown was part of a wider campaign against immigrants who apply for student visas with an intention to settle in the country for work.

Tighter controls could also help tackle security concerns such as threats from Islamist militants based at British universities, including foreigners on student visas.

Statistics showed that international students directly contribute about £2.5 billion to the UK economy in tuition fees alone annually out of the total £8.5 billion.

A senior Pakistani official in London accused the British government last year of failing to co-operate with the security screening of Pakistani nationals going to study in Britain.

The issue climbed back up the political agenda last month when it emerged that the Nigerian man accused of plotting to blow up a passenger plane over Detroit tried to re-enter Britain last April to study at a bogus college.

Mr Johnson’s department said the changes were drawn up before the alleged Christmas Day attack and are part of a wider campaign to keep a closer eye on overseas students.

“We will come down hard on those that flout the rules,” Mr Johnson said.

In a counter-terrorism operation last April, police arrested 12 people including 11 Pakistani nationals, all but one of whom were on student visas.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the case as a “very big terrorist plot”, but police released all the men without charge. Eleven were later investigated by immigration officials.

Mr Johnson said that nearly a third of immigrants seek to enter Britain on a student visa and that the country is the second most popular study destination in the world after the United States of America.

The government has closed down 200 bogus colleges, which help students into Britain but don’t offer proper courses.

But as the new rules await implementation, new data showed that a record number of students have applied for university places in UK this year but unions warned that funding cuts would leave many disappointed.

The university application service UCAS said that as of late January, the number of full-time undergraduate applications had jumped 22.9 per cent to 570,556 compared with 2009 -- the fourth annual rise in a row.