Academics accuse Home Office of using Universities as extension of UK border police

Several UK academics, including a number from the University of Warwick, have accused immigration authorities of using universities to further investigate the immigration details of international students.

This accusation, made by academics from Oxford, Durham and Sheffield has likened the procedure to an extended form of border control, in that universities are being urged to monitor the legitimacy of student credentials from outside the EU.

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) agency has been condemned for diminishing trust between universities and their respective students.

Pressure has been applied by the agency to encourage the scrutiny of attendance among international students, which has  controversially included the sharing of emails to the organization.

The UKVI has justified these measures by claiming they provide a more thorough evaluation of the student visa system.

The fact that Warwick, and many other universities, receive £9,000 a year per UK/EU student, and roughly £15,000 or more from international students, has meant that they are becoming increasingly reliant on such funds from outside the EU.

Universities could face funding complications due to the more rigorous evaluation of applications from internationals.

The regulations are likely to provoke a reluctancy among universities in taking in international students.

Stated by Warwick’s Nicola Pratt in The Guardian, she argued that the checks risk becoming “heavy handed” and this is just a way for the Home Office to meet its immigration targets.

The academics therefore call for the recognition of equality of students, whether they are from the UK, the EU or outside, and that applications should be based on academic merit, and not subject to discrimination.

The fact that international students pay much higher fees than UK/EU students could bring into the debate whether applications are based solely on academic merit, or more controversially the economic benefits that come with non-EU students.

Warwick is already subject to recommended guidelines on the international application process by the UKVI with a set of ‘low risk nationalities’.

This outlines a number of nationalities considered ‘low risk’ by the Home Office, highlighting the slight restrictions universities have on selecting international students. It shows that students from these countries are likely to require priority over other potential non-EU students.

When asked if the pressure put on universities to check student visas more effectively would create problems for non-EU applicants, international PPE student Iris Yan said: “Although I can see the problems associated with this, it is likely to increase efficiency at the same time.

“What I think the university has done well is manage to keep the potential stress of visa applications away from students, regardless of the regulations that seem to be in place.”

According to the UK Council for International Student Affairs, British universities had taken on 302,680 non-EU students in the years 2011-12, which saw a seven percent increase in December 2013.