Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister on 29 July, the Home Office has issued new guidance for Tier 4 sponsors that sets out its new approach to assessing HTS status.
HTS renewal applications after 1 November 2014
If the sponsor’s HTS status is due to be renewed on or after 1 November 2014 the sponsor will be assessed, in terms of its visa refusal rate, against used CAS data from today, 1 August 2014. According to the new guidance, any refusals prior to that date will be discounted.
As from 31 July 2015, the assessment will revert to the normal 12 month cycle.
HTS renewal applications after 1 November 2014
If the sponsor’s HTS status is due to be renewed before 1 November 2014, it will continue to be assessed against the current criteria.
Discretionary assessment
The guidance states that a discretionary assessment regarding the 10% threshold will be applied to:
- sponsors that have not assigned any CAS that have been used in an application for a period of 12 months prior to their HTS application, and
- sponsors that have less than 50 CAS that fall to be assessed (we previous covered the issues faced by small sponsors here).
The guidance states that discretionary assessments will be conducted on a case by case basis, taking into account the sponsor’s individual circumstances. Factors considered may include, but are not limited to:
- Why were the visa applications refused?
- Why did the students not enrol/complete their course?
- Are you complying with your general sponsor duties?
- Are you still suitable and eligible to hold a sponsor licence?
- What is your previous history with us?
- Do you pose any threat to immigration control?
The implementation of the new refusal rate threshold is going to place an increasing number of sponsors at risk of enforcement action. We strongly recommend that all sponsors conduct an urgent review of their Tier 4 compliance systems and approach.
In particular, we would recommend that they focus on:
a) providing extremely clear information to students to assist them in the visa application process; and
b) only issuing CAS to students who have been carefully selected and vetted (including a detailed review of documents submitted and, where possible, interviews with them to assess their English language and reasons for studying at the institution); and
c) ensuring that applicants whose applications are refused apply for an Administrative Review of that decision.
For legal advice on any of the issues announced today, please contact us.
You can find updated information on this area of law here.
