Dear Nairalanders. I just arrived the UK days ago on a student visa to expire Jan 2009. But i plan to defer my admission till september 2008. Then i will have just about 6 months left on the visa. Kindly advise on how, & when to get an extension. are there any risks in this?? Candid advice needed, any risks? when and how to extend? any points to note?. thanks

LJ:

Dear Nairalanders. I just arrived the UK days ago on a student visa to expire Jan 2009. But i plan to defer my admission till september 2008. Then i will have just about 6 months left on the visa. Kindly advise on how, & when to get an extension. are there any risks in this?? Candid advice needed, any risks? when and how to extend? any points to note?. thanks

Kindly state the reasons why you wish to defer your admission after arrival in the UK. Not to preempt you but if i was the home office, the first thing that comes to mind would be inability to meet up with the financial obligations of schooling (and inability to follow course of study). How much school fees have you paid till date?. Conclusion of intention to recourse to unauthorised work or public funds could easily be drawn from these premises.

Unless you have very very strong reasons (medical condition that just arose after your arrival in the UK for instance - this is just a suggestion and might not necessary fly with the HO) for wanting to defer admission after you have 1) - been granted a study visa 2) - have arrived in the uk, i'll advise you not to please.

However this is just from my own limited knowledge of immig matters. I'll await to learn from knowledgeable guys in the house. Regards

@LJ
Found this on a UK school FAQ site -

10. Can I defer or change my course after entering the UK?The student may be permitted to change their course provided that they have good reason to do so and that there is a place on their chosen course. The final decision is made at the discretion of the Dean. A student will not be permitted to defer a course or change institution once they have been granted a student visa. Deferrals can only be considered if a student is leaving the UK for personal reasons, and intends to return after one term.

see the link below - http://www.ctlondon.ac.uk/faq#faq-10

i believe this would apply to most (if not all schools) in the uk taking non eu students. So my 2 cents - don't put in a deferral except you are intending to leave the UK. Regards

@LJ

Please note that you have to account for every single day you spent in UK as a foreign student. I knew few guys who as a result of this is in big problem.

hey,

Am a student in the uk too,but u just have to b careful, cos for u to renew ur visa now, the new rules states that the home officer will request for ur admisson details ,ur attendance from the sch before ur visa can be renewed.the best u can do is to enrol for a course in all those road side schools in uk thats a affordable for now and when the time comes for u to start school in september u den go to the school so that u can be able to prove to them that you were in a sch before,if not u need to be careful.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses above. thanks a lot.

@ paribus, u v saved a bro's life!

@akolawole, account to who, and do u mean when i eventually seek visa extension?

@i dont really understand, roadside school like which types? u mean cheaper uni's and courses?

More insight will be appreciated pls. note that i have enough validity on this visa to begin and even go 6 months into any programme i begin in sept 2008. Wouldnt it be enuff proof for the HO that i am already half-way through a PG course then? Cheers

Things are changing rapidly now in the UK.
Rules are changing every day.
Be careful. Very careful.

When you go for renewal, they will ask you
why you didn't start your studies september,
and what  you have been doing in the UK since then.
Difficult to answer. Isn't it?

A friend just got rejected for working more than the required 20 hrs/week.
He risks being arrested and deported as we are speaking.
You better start your studies once you arrive here.

pls note that i would have gone 5 months into the programme before the visa expires. thanks to all for the hints

LJ:

please note that i would have gone 5 months into the programme before the visa expires. thanks to all for the hints

@LJ
It seems based on some degree of self-conviction you might possibly be missing some very crucial issues regarding your dilemma.

1) Student visa for 1-year postgraduate studies are normally issued for a period of about 4months beyond the end date for the course. Most students that applied for student visa to study at the PG level starting mid/late september or early october this year would normally be issued with a 16month (extra 4 months) visa expiring Jan 2009 (this is what i got and from some other posts on earlier threads, this seems to be the case). Note that this is given deliberately by BHC to enable students tidy up any issues with their PG thesis and attend the graduation ceremony (if they so wish). These additional months are not extra months for you to work or to start following another course (with the intention of getting an extension to complete this).

2) The only extension given for a student visa issued for postgraduate study would be under IGS (International Graduate Scheme). Undergraduate students who were issued with student visas that does not cover the entire period of their studies are able to apply for an extension on provision of evidence of regular attendance (and maybe others) at the school. This is not the case for PG students who would normally be issued with visas to cover the entire period of their course of study.

3) Have you verified from your school international office that you would indeed be able to defer your admission for 1 year having already arrived in the UK? I don't suppose you would have much issues with changing your course, but deferring your present course (or changing to a new one and deferring for 1 year at the same time) would be another issue entirely.

4) If the validity of your visa is Jan 2009 and i presume your course starts this september or early october, then i'll safely conclude that your course would actually end in July or August 2008. The 2008/2009 session in most schools would commence September 2008. Even if against the odds you were able to start the course in September 2008 (mid/late), that would only give you barely over 4months into the programme and not 5 or 6 months as you earlier thought. Registration requirements in my school for instance requires that international students physically bring their passport/visas and original certificates to the international office before they could be enrolled and classified as properly admitted students, if your uni have the same requirements, it would be a no brainer to think of the issues you might have with a visa not coverying the whole period of your programme when registering in sept 2008.

5.) As Azoriju rightly pointed out - why you didn't start your studies september, and what you have been doing in the UK since then. - how're you are going to give a plausible explanation on this beats me.

6.) As per suggestions of finding other schools, the odds are very great. Cases in which a student applied to several schools and actually got unconditional offers from more than one school, if such student applied and were issued with a student visa, then on arrival in the UK, might be able to go to the other school (for which he has been given and has accepted an unconditional offer of admission) which might not necessarily be the one for which he tendered docs for which a visa was issued. (However i think this would change with the new tier and point based immig system from 2008 when student visas would be valid for study only at the original institution for which the visa was issued). I don't think there would be enough time to arrive in the uk and get admission into another school for the same session.

On a last note, i presume you must have done due diligence and expended resources in securing your student visa, why let all these go to waste with your intended moves? Remember many folks would give a lot to be in your shoes. Regards

the poster obviously did come to the UK to study

you came to see how you could hustle and use study visa route to stay there and work
Its obvious that you cant pay for school

As other have advised you

THINGS HAVE CHANGED
RULES HAVE CHANGED
DO NOT GET INTO UNNECESSARY TROUBLE

redem urself quickly, find out from your school if you can start in january since its a masters course cos oyu may have already missed admission

work now and try to save money, cut down expenses so you can make down payment for school

These are the kinds of scenerio that makes student visas harder to secure for those in Nigeria. Of course you should expect UK immigrations rule to get stiffer when people do these things.
In fact from what i read in the University of Sheffield's handbook for Int'l students, the University is expected to report back to appropriate authorities the registration af all new int'l students. I don't really know how that affects your situation.

Rare:

These are the kinds of scenerio that makes student visas harder to secure for those in Nigeria. Of course you should expect UK immigrations rule to get stiffer when people do these things.
In fact from what i read in the University of Sheffield's handbook for Int'l students, the University is expected to report back to appropriate authorities the registration af all new int'l students. I don't really know how that affects your situation.

I have mentioned in one of my posts that the authorities here are increasingly becoming worried about the rate at which students do not turn up at the institution after getting visa. It is acknowledged that some do go to other universities but there are some that do not resume at all. see this link for one of the actions the government is planning to take in future regarding students visa. http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/overseasstudents/story/0,,1830634,00.html

OP
is silent now

Better start school

do not let them deport you o!