No. 42 - Adult Student Visas - Provider License
License withdrawal & suspension
The licence of your approved education provider may be suspended or withdrawn at any time. The affect this has on you will depend on when the suspension or withdrawal occurs:
| Licence suspended | What will happen |
| Before you apply to come | You can still apply for permission to come to the UK
but the UKBA will hold your application until the suspension is
resolved. |
| Before you travel to the UK | If you have a visa letter that you got before your
approved education provider's license was suspended, and have already been
granted permission to enter the UK, but you have not yet travelled, the UKBA
will try and contact you to tell you not to come until they have resolved the
suspension. |
| If you do travel to the UK |
If you do travel to the UK, you will be allowed to
enter and start studying with your approved education provider. |
| If you're already in the UK studying |
If you are already in the UK and studying with your approved education provider, the UKBA will not tell you if they suspend their licence. However, if the result of the suspension is that your approved education provider loses their licence, the UKBA will tell you and your permission to stay will be limited. |
| If you're extending your stay | You can still apply to extend your permission to stay
if it runs out when your approved education provider's licence is suspended, as
long as you already have your visa letter. However, the UKBA will hold your
application until the suspension is resolved. |
| Licence withdrawn | What will happen |
| Before you apply to come | If your approved education provider's licence is
withdrawn, your visa letter will become invalid and you will not be
able to use it to support any application for leave to come to the UK. Any
applications made using an invalid visa letter will be refused. |
| Before you travel to the UK |
If you have been given permission to come but have not travelled yet, your permission to come is cancelled. If you travel to the UK, you will not be allowed to enter. |
| If you're already in the UK studying |
The UKBA will limit your permission to stay:
|
In addition, if your approved education provider is taken over by
another organisation, they must apply for a licence within 28 days of them
taking over the organisation, unless if they are already licensed by
the UKBA.
| Organisation taken over | What will happen |
| If you're inside or outside the UK |
If the organisation does not have a licence or does not apply for one within 28 days of taking over your approved education provider, the UKBA will limit your permission to stay in the UK to 60 days (unless you have less than six months left on your visa). If this happens, you may want to apply for permission to stay with another approved education provider. |
** Additional Information & Advice **
You can obtain further information about immigration law on FindLaw.
As discussed in a previous blog entry, the UK government introduced new rules for student visas earlier this year - so instead of researching online, you may prefer to speak with a solicitor who specialises in immigration law.
You can be matched with a solicitor for free via solicitor matching services, which can also help you to understand the best course of action for your situation and whether you are ready to hire a solicitor.
