asif007 wrote:Can someone advise:
Question 1: Is there any time limit if a student want to start a PhD Course at HEIbearing in mind my previous qualification?
Question 2: Do any of you have an idea about New Route PhD Programme, will UKBA consider and classify this as a normal PhD hence apply exemption and grant visa or will they say since it is not mentioned in tier 4 policy guidance annex 6 visa should be refused?
Previous immigration history:
- 1 year foundation (old student visa)
4 years undergraduate degree ( Old Student Visa+ Tier 4 extension)
Note: Number of universities + UKCISA says on their website that no time limit apply for fresh application for a PhD course however any further leave after completion/or to complete PhD will not be granted or subject to 8 years.
Degree level: 5-year cap
Some time limits were introduced on 6 April 2012 for degree level study. Any new Tier 4 application must lead to you spending no more than five years on courses at degree level. All time you have had leave under Tier 4 (or as a pre-Tier 4 student) counts towards the 5 years, except for the short extra time you are given before the course (maximum one month) and after a course (maximum four months).
There are some exceptions to the 5-year cap:
If you have successfully completed a UK degree course which was at least four years long, and you are making a Tier 4 application to study a Master's degree at a higher education institution (recognised body or institution in receipt of public funding), the limit is six years.
If your Tier 4 application is to study a PhD (or one of the postgraduate research qualifications listed in Annex 6 of the Home Office's Tier 4 Policy Guidance) at a higher education institution, there is no limit while you are studying the PhD.
If you have already completed a PhD (or one of the postgraduate research qualifications listed in Annex 6 of the Home Office's Tier 4 Policy Guidance) in the UK, any new Tier 4 application is subject to an 8-year limit (including courses below degree level, but not including Tier 4 leave granted under the Doctorate Extension Scheme).
Courses in architecture, medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and science, or music at a conservatoire, are exempt from the limit.
If you have completed a UK degree, and your current Tier 4 application is to study certain legal qualifications the legal qualification is exempt from the limit. In England and Wales the relevant qualifications are a law conversion course, a Legal Practice Course and the Bar Professional Training Course. In Northern Ireland the relevant qualifications are a Masters in Legal Science (MLegSc), the Solicitors Course and the Bar Course. In Scotland the relevant qualifications are an accelerated graduate LLB and a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice.
The Home Office will not grant further leave to someone whose current Tier 4 application means they will exceed these limits, unless there are "compelling and compassionate circumstances", such as injury or disability.
