Question - Overstaying Due To Exams

[Phil_C]

Hello eveyone, I wonder if you can help with the following:

Question - If you are on student visa which expires at the end of Feb but have exams to take for your course in mid March, are you allowed to overstay in order to complete your exams? Assuming you will fly back the day after the exams have been taken etc.

Many Thanks,
Phil

[SYH]

of course not
get an extension

[Phil_C]

Are you sure? I've heard to the contrary.

It's not worth getting an extension for 14 days in order to sit an exam. To get the extension costs around £1500 including booking a new course and extension fees.

Phil

[Wanderer]

Are you sure? I've heard to the contrary.

It's not worth getting an extension for 14 days in order to sit an exam. To get the extension costs around £1500 including booking a new course and extension fees.

Why study for a year not to be able to take your exams?

Phil

I don't get this, usually u get a student visa valid till the end of the course, plus about three months for exams, grads etc.

My gf's expires Oct 2008, exams in Jun.

How come ur exams are in Feb?

[paulp]

Are you sure? I've heard to the contrary.

It's not worth getting an extension for 14 days in order to sit an exam. To get the extension costs around £1500 including booking a new course and extension fees.

Why study for a year not to be able to take your exams?

Phil

Surely, you don't need to book a new course? The BIA is clamping down severely on overstayers.

Are these your final exams so you don't care about future visa applications?

[Phil_C]

It's not worth getting into too many details.

Essentially course is finished, exams are finished, however this last exam is for the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). You cannot take it in Jan or Feb, it is only available to take in March.

This is a very important qualification to have before going back to home country.

What would you do? I've been advised by a college that I am allowed to overstay to complete this exam.

Phil

[VictoriaS]

This is terrible advise. You should never overstay, but should apply for an extension to sit the exams. It won't cost you that much.

I can't believe that colleges give this advise. If you overstay it will jeopardise you coming back in the future.

Victoria

[Phil_C]

I see, could you tell me Victoria, how would I go about applying for an extension to do the exam? Only need 2 - 4 week extension.

Thanks,
Phil

[paulp]

If you do it by post, your exam will probably be over before they have a chance to process the application.

[VictoriaS]

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyi ... aytostudy/


Victoria

[SYH]

Are you sure? I've heard to the contrary.

It's not worth getting an extension for 14 days in order to sit an exam. To get the extension costs around £1500 including booking a new course and extension fees.

Phil

What are you talking about the extension applicaition is around 300pounds?
Do as victoria says and by the time they get to your application, you will have taken the exam

[Phil_C]

Thanks Victoria, that is for a full extension though. A new course would have to be paid for etc. Additionally 3 extensions have already been granted over the last 4 years. It's unlikely that another will unless it is at degree level.

So what happens if overstaying by 2 weeks to do this exam?

Phil

[VictoriaS]

If you overstay, on exit you will probably have your passport endorsed as an overstayer and will have real problems ever coming back again.

It will be £300 but I see no reason why it won't be approved. The worse case is that they switch you to a visitor for a few weeks.

You won't have to pay for a new course, just give evidence of the exam date.

Victoria

[Phil_C]

Thank you for your assistance Victoria.

In theory does this mean if my passport is not endorsed as an overstayer when leaving the UK it is fine to apply for future visas? I'm guessing there is a chance it will not be endorsed as an overstayer, particulary with a letter from the college explaining exam dates.

Phil

[paulp]

Thank you for your assistance Victoria.

In theory does this mean if my passport is not endorsed as an overstayer when leaving the UK it is fine to apply for future visas? I'm guessing there is a chance it will not be endorsed as an overstayer, particulary with a letter from the college explaining exam dates.

Phil

Phil_C, you appear to be under the misapprehension that overstaying on a student visa is a minor matter and will be disregarded if you produce letters from the college, etc.

Nowadays with the latest guidelines, students overstaying 28 days or more are automatically refused further student visas. Overstays less than 28 days require the discretion of the caseworker.

If you overstay and are caught at the airport, pray that you find a particularly lenient officer and be prepared to beg. If you plan to apply for further visas in this country, don't risk it.

[SYH]

Thanks Victoria, that is for a full extension though. A new course would have to be paid for etc. Additionally 3 extensions have already been granted over the last 4 years. It's unlikely that another will unless it is at degree level.

So what happens if overstaying by 2 weeks to do this exam?

Phil

Who told you that? A new course for a new visa?
As a student, you should have learned that you must read. Did you read the application for an extension. Where does it say you have to pay for a new course.
What classes are you taking? because you don't make a lot of sense.

[Phil_C]

Seriously if a poster is going to give a retarded response like SYH please keep your comments to yourself, they are not useful.

It will be under 28 days so I may leave it to the discreation of the officer, like everything it's a risk. £300 is a lot to spend for an extension for only 14 days but I will think about it.

Thank you all for your help.

Phil

[Administrator]

.

Phil --

Please keep in mind that records of you crossing the border, any records, will prove if you overstayed or not. It doesn't matter if any marks are made in your passport. Those records can haunt you for ten or even up to twenty years. For more serious infractions, it can be for life.

If you try to come back into the UK, and in fact if you try to get a visa to many countries, you may well have to sign a statement regarding your legal entry/exit of any country in your past.

If you are not fully honest in the context of such a question, you can be setting yourself up today for very serious troubles in the future.

If you are ever denied entry to any country for any reason (and a previous overstay in another country is a reason that is often used), you will be asked on just about every visa application in the world if you have ever been denied entry to another country. And you will have to explain it to the satisfaction of immigration authorities. At best it will delay processing of future applications. At worst you will become ineligible.


I've noticed that, despite being asked several times, you did not identify who gave you this advice about 'being allowed to overstay.' Whoever gave that advice is an uninformed idiot. It would not be wise to listen to anything that person tells you.

Nobody is 'allowed' to overstay. It is a really, REALLY bad strategy.

If this was a university official working in a capacity of providing advice to students, that person needs to be turned in to their superiors. I would hope the university has the fortitude to immediately remove such a moron from that position.

the Admin

[SYH]

Seriously if a poster is going to give a retarded response like SYH please keep your comments to yourself, they are not useful.

It will be under 28 days so I may leave it to the discreation of the officer, like everything it's a risk. £300 is a lot to spend for an extension for only 14 days but I will think about it.

Thank you all for your help.

Phil

Retarded? I think if you believe you have to pay for a new course to get an extension, that makes you retarded.
It seems you want us to give you absolution for overstaying because you deem it to be miniscule so just stop being fussy and annoyed because we don't agree with you and find you out of order for considering it.

[vinny]

2. Overstaying is an offence, contrary to s.24(1)(b)(i) of the Immigration Act 1971. Section 24(1A) of the 1971 Act, which was inserted by s.6(1) of the Immigration Act 1988, provides that a person commits the offence on the day when he or she first knows that leave to enter or remain has expired, and continues to commit it until such time as his or her position is regularised, for example through a further grant of leave.

[Administrator]

.

SYH -

Please let it go. Because someone finally reacts to your 'style' of commentary is not just cause to try and derail the topic.

Try to find a more constructive way to word your responses.

the Admin

Seriously if a poster is going to give a retarded response like SYH please keep your comments to yourself, they are not useful.

It will be under 28 days so I may leave it to the discreation of the officer, like everything it's a risk. £300 is a lot to spend for an extension for only 14 days but I will think about it.

Thank you all for your help.

Phil

Retarded? I think if you believe you have to pay for a new course to get an extension, that makes you retarded.
It seems you want us to give you absolution for overstaying because you deem it to be miniscule so just stop being fussy and annoyed because we don't agree with you and find you out of order for considering it.

[SYH]

Fine, I will retire from this thread but honestly. I didn't throw the first stone and I find it weird that you focus on me when a Wanderer type comment seems acceptable??

[Administrator]

.

Directed at ALL members, new & old, even though I'm using a couple of specific members as examples in this post:


Wanderer has received 'requests' from me to "dial it back," both publicly and by PM. If you are referencing his comment in this topic, I don't see the parallel ... while I do agree, on occasion, in other topics I could wish some of his comments were a bit less ,,, acidic.

And, no to SYH & Wanderer, you are hardly alone, although you do stand out a bit. I long ago decided that I would rather keep such personalities in our community than try to ban you. I think the community in general benefits, even if there is a touch of "collateral damage" on some days.


I'm not asking you to retire from this or any thread, or even the forum ... I appreciate very much your regular participation here and the energy you devote to keeping the place interesting and ... in large part ... informative.

I am asking you to "dial it back" a bit. When you have composed a post, maybe you could reword some parts of it, sometimes, so it is a bit less personally directed? Just maybe?


EVERYBODY:

New members who come on board with naive or otherwise basic questions deserve a little bit of leeway before getting jumped on.

I've been doing my best to allow free reign of speech and expression in this forum. Maybe I should have stepped in quite a few times and tried to moderate better.

Honestly, I just don't have the time to read everything, so I have certainly missed quite a number of incidents.

When I am reading through a topic, or when I get PM's about content in a topic, I react to what I see and how it impresses me as I read through the entire topic in context.


Today I felt a need to single one member out. If you felt that was a bit personally directed .. consider how your comments were likely received. Also, in this case, I've noticed a habit for quite some time that irritated me more than usual today and I decided to draw attention to it.

As always, my comments are directed at the "health" of the entire community.

Community members who have been very active here and have been here for some time ... I will not hesitate to address you directly and in a very direct fashion.

I also leave myself open to argument and criticism. Just because I sign my posts as 'the Admin' doesn't mean my behavior is beyond comment and debate. I am just as much a part of this forum community as I am in a dozen others where I am merely a member or a Mod.


Thank you for listening.

Please, everybody, let us keep focused on playing nicely with each other and remember we are here to help each other.

the Admin