“245V. Purpose The purpose of this route is to encourage international graduates who have studied in the UK to stay on and do skilled or highly skilled work.”
“245Z. Requirements for leave to remain To qualify for leave to remain as a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrant, an applicant must meet the requirements listed below. Subject to paragraph 245ZA (i), if the applicant meets these requirements, leave to remain will be granted. If the applicant does not meet these requirements, the application will be refused. Requirements: (a) The applicant must not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal, and must not be an illegal entrant. (b) The applicant must not previously have been granted entry clearance or leave to remain as a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) migrant. (c) The applicant must have a minimum of 75 points under paragraphs 51 to 58 of Appendix A. (d) The applicant must have a minimum of 10 points under paragraphs 1 to 3 of Appendix B. (e) The applicant must have a minimum of 10 points under paragraphs 1 to 2 of Appendix C. (f) The applicant must have, or have last been granted, entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain: (i) as a Participant in the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme, (ii) as a Participant in the International Graduates Scheme (or its predecessor, the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme), (iii) as a Student, provided the applicant has not previously been granted leave in any of the categories referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above, (iv) as a Student Nurse, provided the applicant has not previously been granted leave in any of the categories referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above, (v) as a Student Re-Sitting an Examination, provided the applicant has not previously been granted leave in any of the categories referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above, (vi) as a Student Writing Up a Thesis, provided the applicant has not previously been granted leave as a Tier 1 Migrant or in any of the categories referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above, or (vii) as a Tier 4 Migrant, provided the applicant has not previously been granted leave as a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrant or in any of the categories referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above. (g) An applicant who has, or was last granted leave as a Participant in the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme must be a British National (Overseas), British overseas territories citizen, British Overseas citizen, British protected person or a British subject as defined in theBritish Nationality Act 1981 . (h) If: (i) the studies that led to the qualification for which the applicant obtains points under paragraphs 51 to 58 of Appendix A were sponsored by a Government or international scholarship agency, and (ii) those studies came to an end 12 months ago or less the applicant must provide the unconditional written consent of the sponsoring Government or agency to the application and must provide the specified documents to show that this requirement has been met. 245ZA. Period and conditions of grant (a) Leave to remain will be granted: (i) for a period of the difference between 2 years and the period of the last grant of entry clearance, leave to enter or remain, to an applicant who has or was last granted leave as a Participant in the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme, as a Participant in the International Graduates Scheme (or its predecessor the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme). If this calculation results in no grant of leave then leave to remain is to be refused; (ii) for a period of 2 years, to any other applicant. (b) Leave to remain under this route will be subject to the following conditions: (i) no access to public funds, (ii) registration with the police, if this is required by paragraph 326 of these Rules, and (iii) no Employment as a Doctor in Training unless the applicant has, or has last been granted, entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as a Participant in the International Graduates Scheme (or its predecessor, the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme) or as a Participant in the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme.”
“245AA. Documentary evidence (a) Where Part 6A or Appendices A to C, or E of these Rules state that specified documents must be provided, that means documents specified by the Secretary of State in the Points Based System Policy Guidance as being specified documents for the route under which the applicant is applying. If the specified documents are not provided, the applicant will not meet the requirement for which the specified documents are required as evidence. (b) If the Entry Clearance Officer or Secretary of State has reasonable cause to doubt the genuineness of any document submitted by an applicant which is, or which purports to be, a specified document under Part 6A or Appendices A to C, or E of these Rules and having taken reasonable steps to verify the document, is unable to verify that it is genuine, the document will be discounted for the purposes of this application.”
“1A. In all cases where an applicant is required to obtain points under Appendix C, the applicant must have the funds specified in the relevant part of Appendix C at the date of the application and must also have had those funds for a period of time set out in the guidance specifying the specified documents for that purpose. Tier 1 Migrants 1. An applicant applying for entry clearance or leave to remain as a Tier 1 Migrant (other than as a Tier 1 (Investor) Migrant) must score 10 points for funds. 2. 10 points will only be awarded if an applicant: (a) applying for entry clearance, has the level of funds shown in the table below and provides the specified documents, or Level of funds Points£2,800 10 (b) applying for leave to remain, has the level of funds shown in the table below and provides the specified documents. Level of funds Points£800 10 3. The applicant must have the funds specified in paragraph 2 above at the date of the application and must also have had those funds for a period of time set out in the guidance specifying the specified documents for the purposes of paragraph 2 above.”
“10. The applicant must ensure he/she provides all of the necessary supporting documents at the time he/she sends us the application. If the immigration rules state that specified documents must be provided, we will say so in this guidance and we will only accept those documents. 11. If the applicant does not provide the specified documents, we will not contact him/her to ask for them. Therefore, if the applicant fails to send the correct documents we may refuse the application.”
“89. One of the requirements of Tier 1 is that an applicant coming to the UK must be able to support himself/herself for the entire duration of his/her stay in the UK without use of public funds (benefits provided by the state). An applicant who is unable to support himself/herself could face financial hardship because he/she will not have access to most state benefits. 90. In order to qualify for entry clearance, or leave to remain under Tier 1 an applicant must show that he/she has enough money to support himself/herself. The maintenance requirements are detailed below: • Applicants outside the UK seeking entry clearance must have at least£2,800 of personal savings which must have been held for at least three months prior to the date of application. • Applicants in the UK seeking further leave to remain must have at least£800 of personal savings which must have been held for at least three months prior to the date of application. 91… 92… 93. The evidence to support personal savings for at least three months must be original, on the official letter-headed paper or stationery of the organisation and have the office stamp of that organisation. It must have been issued by an authorised official of that organisation. 94. Evidence must be in the form of cash funds. Other accounts or financial instruments such as shares, bonds, pension funds etc, regardless of notice period are not acceptable. 95. The evidence of maintenance must be of cash funds in the bank (this includes savings accounts and current accounts even when notice must be given), loan or official financial or government sponsorship available to the applicant. Other accounts of financial instruments such as shares, bonds, pensions etc., regardless of notice period, are not acceptable. 96. Only the following specified documents will be accepted as evidence of this requirement: (i) Personal bank or building society statements covering the three consecutive months. The most recent statement must be dated no more than one calendar month before the date of application. The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show: • The applicant’s name; • The account number; • The date of the statement; • The financial institution’s name and logo; • Transactions covering the three month period; • That there are enough funds present in the account (the balance must always be at least£2,800 or£800 , as appropriate). Ad hoc bank statements printed on the bank’s letterhead are admissible as evidence (this excludes min-statements from cash points). … [sets out guidance on electronic bank statements] We will not accept statements which show the balance in the account on a particular day as these documents do not show that the applicant holds enough funds for the full period needed.” • Applicants outside the UK seeking entry clearance must have at least£2,800 of personal savings which must have been held for at least three months prior to the date of application. • Applicants in the UK seeking further leave to remain must have at least£800 of personal savings which must have been held for at least three months prior to the date of application. (i) Personal bank or building society statements covering the three consecutive months. The most recent statement must be dated no more than one calendar month before the date of application. The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show: • The applicant’s name; • The account number; • The date of the statement; • The financial institution’s name and logo; • Transactions covering the three month period; • That there are enough funds present in the account (the balance must always be at least£2,800 or£800 , as appropriate). Ad hoc bank statements printed on the bank’s letterhead are admissible as evidence (this excludes min-statements from cash points). … [sets out guidance on electronic bank statements] We will not accept statements which show the balance in the account on a particular day as these documents do not show that the applicant holds enough funds for the full period needed.”
“Tier 1(Post-Study Work) of the points-based system Policy Guidance. This document contains guidance [sic] to our policy on Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) of the points based system to work in the United Kingdom. Maintenance (funds) requirement: We have made transitional arrangements for proving maintenance (funds) for applicants and their family members who make applications up to and including31 October 2008 . You can find details of these on the last page of this document.”
“Transitional arrangements for maintenance (funds) Normally, when applying to Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) from within the United Kingdom, you will have to show that you have enough funds, by sending documentation showing you have had savings of at least£800 for at least three months before applying. Because this is a new requirement and it may be difficult to prove this immediately, we have put transitional arrangements in place for applicants and their family members submitting their applications within the United Kingdom up to and including31 October 2008 . Up to31 October 2008 , you do not have to show you have had the funds for at least three months before your application. You must only show you have the required funds at the time you apply. The types of documentary evidence you need to send to support your application are as described in this document. However, until31 October 2008 , they do not need to cover the three-month period, but they must be dated no more than a month before your application. For example, if you apply under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) on 12 July, a single bank statement with a closing balance of£800 dated between 12 June and12 July 2008 will meet the maintenance requirements. A bank statement dated before12 June 2008 will not be acceptable.” 20. This is clearly a transitional arrangement affecting all applicants applying before a specified date. Transitional arrangements for those with current leave in the IGS, SEGS (Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme) and FT:WISS (Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme). 21. There are also different transitional arrangements affecting some categories of applicants only. As already noted, since inception the Policy Guidance has differentiated between “initial” applicants and those with current leave in the IGS, SEGS or FT:WISS categories. Since inception it has contained a separate section headed “Tier 1(Post-Study Work) –Points Scoring: Points scoring assessment –transitional arrangements”
“88. If the applicant currently has, or was last granted leave as a participant in the [IGS] (or its predecessor, the [SEGS]) or a participant in the [FT:WISS] he/she will satisfy the English language requirement.”
“85. Matters to be considered … (4) On an appeal under sections 82(1), 83(2) or 83A(2) against a decision the Tribunal may consider evidence about any matter which it thinks relevant to the substance of the decision, including evidence which concerns a matter arising after the date of the decision. (5) But in relation to an appeal under section 82(1) against refusal of entry clearance or refusal of a certificate of entitlement under section 10- (a) subsection (4) shall not apply, and (b) the Tribunal may consider only the circumstances appertaining at the time of the decision to refuse.”
“29. A second way of dealing with such anomalies is to ask whether the rules really are so stringent that the anomalies have to arise at all. The appellants' case is that there is no need to read rule 60(v) with the stringency of SW (Jamaica); that doing so is productive of injustice; and that a more generous reading can do much to prevent this. In support of his approach Mr Macdonald reminds us of the decision of Woolf J, as he then was, in R v IAT, ex parte Gerami [1981] Imm AR 187: "…it would not be right to treat a person as disqualified from being given further leave to remain in this country because of a prolonged lack of success. That is a matter which only goes to discretion under para 12 and does not amount to a condition precedent to a successful application." "…it would not be right to treat a person as disqualified from being given further leave to remain in this country because of a prolonged lack of success. That is a matter which only goes to discretion under para 12 and does not amount to a condition precedent to a successful application." 30. While, as Mr Macdonald acknowledges, the rules are no longer in the form they were in then, Gerami in his submission forms part of the acquis of law and practice relating to foreign students – an acquis which appears to have remained undisturbed until and for a decade after the introduction of HC 395 in 1995 and only recently to have become contentious. Whether this is right or not, the approach of Woolf J in Gerami seems to us to make so much sense that it would take clear words to displace it; and we consider that rule 60(v) is by no means clear in this regard. Of course the Home Secretary needs to know how a student has done in his examinations in order to decide whether he is making satisfactory progress and should be allowed to stay on. But it would take very explicit words to lay down that a student who has attended every lecture and seminar and turned in excellent coursework has not made satisfactory progress because he was too ill to sit his examinations, and that he is therefore debarred for good from having another shot at them. We do not believe that Parliament, in approving the Immigration Rules pursuant to s.3(2) of the 1971 Act, can have thought that it was sanctioning in such circumstances the termination of a prospective career in which a foreign student had invested years of his life and possibly all his family's savings; nor that the Home Secretary, if called upon to explain them, would have said that this was their intended effect. Conclusion of law 31. In our judgment the meaning of rule 60(v) is that a student who wants an extension of stay must be able to produce evidence of satisfactory progress, whether on the course named in his application for entry clearance or on another recognised course which he or she has undertaken. A failure to sit or to pass relevant examinations will always be material to the evaluation of the student's progress, but whether it is decisive will depend on the reason for it. If the reason is not inconsistent with satisfactory progress, rule 60(v) is satisfied.”
“that she did not have£800 at the date of the application, or one month before it. In fact no bank statement had been submitted showing the accounts of7 July 2008 . The nearest date is approximately one month earlier on11 June 2008 when she was over£500 overdrawn. Sadly for her therefore she does not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, the fact that she was ill a few months earlier is not a matter which I can take into account, and neither is the fact that she misunderstood the rules.”
“Therefore, if the applicant fails to send the correct documents we may refuse the application”
“the not uncommon situation in which genuine personal difficulties have either prevented a student from sitting a course examination or caused him to fail it. The present cases, to the facts of which we will be coming, afford reminders of the kinds of vicissitude that can impede studies.”
“…the Tribunal may consider evidence about any matter which it thinks relevant to the substance of the decision, including evidence which concerns a matter arising after the date of the decision.”
“10. The applicant must ensure he/she provides all of the necessary supporting documents at the time he/she sends us the application. If the immigration rules state that specified documents must be provided, we will say so in this guidance and we will only accept those documents. 11. If the applicant does not provide the specified documents, we will not contact him/her to ask for them. Therefore, if the applicant fails to send the correct documents we may refuse the application.” [Emphasis added]
“You must only show you have the required funds at the time you apply”
“For example, if you apply under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) on 12 July, a single bank statement with a closing balance of£800 dated between 12 June and12 July 2008 will meet the maintenance requirements. A bank statement dated before 12 June will not be acceptable.”