Increase to the immigration health surcharge from December; original documents will no longer be necessary for visa applications; GDPR helpline coming soon; and guidance on the package travel directive.
Immigration Health Surcharge
The Immigration Health Surcharge which applies to all students coming to the UK for more than six months is due to double in December 2018.
From 18 December 2018 students applying for the 11 months Short Term Study Visa or a Tier 4 visa will be charged £300 per year.
Visa application documentation
From Monday 5 November it will no longer be necessary to submit original documents when making a visa application, either in the UK or overseas. A Home Office caseworker will make verification checks regarding the authenticity of any documents if there are any concerns.
The visa application process is changing for application submitted in the UK.
New GDPR and data protection helpline
As a member of English UK you now have access to an independent helpline offering expert advice on GDPR and data protection.
Members can access advice on all aspects of data protection law including for example:
- contractual issues, such as between centres and agents, including amendments to existing contracts
- where a Data Protection Officer might be needed and how to make such an appointment
- sense checks for the appropriate legal bases for processing data
- how privacy policies should be drawn up.
This service is completely free of charge to and exclusive to English UK members - it is one of the benefits of membership.
Package Travel Directive
The Tourism Alliance have put together a FAQ and guidance on how the directive applies to different types of business activity, rather than being specifically for the education sector.
The FAQ should be read in conjunction with the guidance.
previous entry << >> next entry
