PSW refused due to applying before date of award

[wilde789]

Hello all,

I just received news that my PSW was refused on 10 Dec (It only reached me on 16!), and for the following reason:


[b]"You have claimed 15 point for Date of Award under Appendix A of the Immigration Rules, but on the basis of the documents you have provided you do not qualify for the award of points in this area. The reasons for this decision are detailed below.
You have stated that you were awarded your eligible qualification no more than twelve months before the date of your application.
You made your application under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) on 07 October 2010. However, from the evidence provided and confirmed with the University of Cambridge, the date of award of your qualification is the 13 October 2010.
You can only claim 15 points if the eligible qualification was obtained within the 12 months immediately before your application for leave to remain under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work), as you were Awarded your Masters Degree after the date of application we are unable to award points, in line with published guidance.
The Secretary of State is therefore not satisfied that you have met the requirements to be awarded a minimum of 75 points under Appendix A of the immigration rules."[/b]


However, I applied on that date only because my visa was expiring on 3 November 2010. If I had waited till my award, I would probably be too late to apply, as stated on the Home Office guidelines,

[quote] As stated on the Home Office site
"For applications made inside the United Kingdom If you are already in the United Kingdom, you should apply to stay as soon as possible and before your current leave runs out. We encourage you to apply one month before your leave runs out." ( Source: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... owtoapply/ )[/quote]

Further, I also included an official letter from my Graduate Administrator based on

[quote]If the certificate has yet to be issued, the applicant will be unable to provide the original certificate of award. In these circumstances, the applicant must provide:
ii) an original letter from the institution at which the applicant studied towards his/her eligible qualification. The letter must be an original letter (not a copy), on the official letter-headed paper of the United Kingdom institution at which the applicant studied. It must have been issued by an authorised official and must confirm the: • applicant’s name; •title of the qualification;
• Date of the award (as defined in paragraph 79 of these guidance notes); •the body awarding the qualification; • explain the reason why the applicant is unable to provide their original certificate of award; and • confirm that the certificate will be issued.[/quote]

She was unable to put an official date down as the Institute can only recommend, and the formality is that the Board had to meet first.

So I attended my graduation ceremony on 23 Oct and received the certificate. On 30 Nov, I received an email from my caseworker requesting my certificate, which I sent. However, I still got rejected. I applied on 7 Oct because I was obliged to apply at least a month before my stay ran out (plus 7 Oct is less than a month's from 3 Nov). Plus I sent them the official letter from my Institute.

So far, I have hired a solicitor who is working on my case. He sent my appeal in today (20 Dec).

I have also stumbled upon a few old threads such as these
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 492b6d973d
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 8cd3ecbbeb
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... ea7491b9e2

but wonder if any of you have got similar cases happening recently?

Please do share as I am feeling rather anxious.


Thank you.

[therock]

Sorry to hear this news, but don't worry as by the time of your hearing you will have the award and you will get the visa straightaway. By the way, I have a quick question, when you submitted the letter from your University did it say "The award is yet to be decided by the administration" or anything like this? Thanks

[kirmenon]

I am sure things will work out , who is your colicitoir , I was looking for a solicitor myself , could you tell me his firm name or his name or a telephone number ?

[wilde789]

Hello,

Thank you for your vote of confidence. .

The letter stated:

"Ms xxx has fulfilled all course requirements for the MPhil xxxxxx to a satisfactory degree. Formal notification of the award of the degree is issued to students following the meeting of the University of Cambridge Board of Graduate Studies in October 2010"

[wilde789]

[quote="kirmenon"]I am sure things will work out , who is your colicitoir , I was looking for a solicitor myself , could you tell me his firm name or his name or a telephone number ?[/quote]


I hired UK Visa And Immigration-- they seem quite helpful. Also, they seem to have the lowest rates and their testimonials seem quite promising.

http://www.ukvisaandimmigration.co.uk/a ... cation.php

During the initial assessments, they seemed quite optimistic about my case.

However, my lawyer is now saying we need official dates stating that I had indeed passed my course and fulfilled all requirements prior to application. Which I did. I think the Cambridge process has got many hoops that makes it seem a bit confusing as to whether or when one gets an award.

My latest letter from my Institute is as such

"This is to confirm that xxx successfully completed all course requirements for the degree of MPhil in xxx, Institute of xxx, Faculty of xxx, University of Cambridge, for the academic year 2009–10; Ms xxx submitted her final course assignment on 17 August 2010, and by 21 September 2010 the Board of Examiners had determined that she had completed all course requirements to a satisfactory standard. Ms xxx participation in the programme concluded formally on 30 September 2010.

The Institute of xxx Board of Examinations met on 23 September 2010; at the conclusion of this meeting the Committee recommended to the Degree Committee of the xxx Faculty that Ms xxx be approved for the award of the MPhil degree. The Institute is able only to recommend such awards to the Degree Committee. The recommendation must then be approved by the Degree Committee and forwarded to the University Board of Graduate Studies for final approval. The Board of Graduate Studies, at its meeting on 12 October 2010 , approved Ms xxx for the award of the MPhil degree.
The degree of MPhil was conferred on Ms xxx on 23 October 2010 at a formal Congregation held at the University Senate House."

As you can probably see, there are a lot of 'stages' of the process. . but I'm hoping that "completing all requirements to a satisfactory standard" would suffice as I was indeed following the guidelines as per the Home Office Guidance Notes. .

[therock]

We all know how unfair UKBA is, then why we submit such complicated letters? that was the reason for refusal where the letter stated "The board will sit and will then finally approve"

[PaperPusher]

According to the letter quoted, you were awarded you qualification on 12th October.

[wilde789]

[quote="PaperPusher"]According to the letter quoted, you were awarded you qualification on 12th October.[/quote]

I wasn't. I was confirmed that I would be approved for the award on the 12th. And received it on the 23rd.

In the meanwhile, the moment I received confirmation that I had fulfilled my requirements I sent in an official letter for my application.

[PaperPusher]

Exactly, the award was only approved on the 12th, when you were awarded the qualification.

Final approval by the board on 12th, before that you had completed your course, but not been awarded the qualification.

"fulfilling the requirements" isn't the same as being awarded a qualification.

You can look at this case:

http://www.ait.gov.uk/Public/Upload/j22 ... igeria.doc

Perhaps you will be lucky with the appeal.

[wilde789]

Hello there, thank you for the case details.

I am aware that I hadn't been awarded the degree per se, as I would have had to wait till my graduation ceremony to receive it. As time was running short, I therefore submitted my official letter from the Institute. Compared to the case above, I had finished my dissertation and it had been marked and graded already.

As I have been reading other cases (e.g. in this thread http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 492b6d973d ), it seems like my case falls under the 'subject to approval by xx board'. . so I'm hoping that like other cases with successful appeals, mine will be fine.

[geriatrix]

The letter stated:

"Ms xxx has fulfilled all course requirements for the MPhil xxxxxx to a satisfactory degree. Formal notification of the award of the degree is issued to students following the meeting of the University of Cambridge Board of Graduate Studies in October 2010"

IMHO, the letter you used as evidence of qualification doesn't state the date of award but the month when the Board was scheduled to meet to announce / notify award(s) and date(s) thereof.

Therefore, the letter doesn't fulfil the requirements specified in the policy guidance and for the same reason your case may be different from the other topics you have provided links of.


regards

[lavezziisgod]

I am yet to receive the PSW letter from the Uni but one of my friends who is in the UK has got her PSW letter. In that letter, the start and end date of course etc etc are mentioned and it's also been said that the student has been awarded an MA. No date is mentioned - the date of the award of the degree has not been mentioned...

So do you suggest that I should get the Uni to write the award date?

Thanks in advance again.

[lavezziisgod]

I actually find this a bit funny...

The UKBA website says that you can apply for your PSW before you get your final award if the Uni clearly mentions it in the letter.

But now they are rejecting it because you have applied for your PSW visa before your award...?

Weird...

[ersourabhbhola]

actually,

UkBA says that the letter should be of award of confirmation not recommendation, this seems to be a letter of recommendation.

Strangely but in UK universities results go from top to bottom to be verified and award is only a recommendation until final central award committee Confirms it(But in 99.9% cases results remain same as declared in 1st level).

In your case it might be recommended at institute level.

never the less the chances are very bright that you will be given psw in your appeal