Immigration services have advised that there have been a number of changes to the immigration rules which may affect students and their dependants:

31 March 2014 - Tuberculosis testing

Algeria, Belarus, Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Ukraine will be added to the list of countries whose nationals need to take a tuberculosis (TB) test at an approved clinic before applying for a Tier 4 visa to come to the UK for a course of 6 months or less.

6 April 2014 – New Application Fees

	Current fee	New fee from 6th April 2014
Tier 4 (application made outside of UK)	£298	£310
Tier 4 Dependant (application made outside of UK)	£298	£310
Tier 4 – Standard (application made within the UK)	£406	£422
Tier 4 Dependant (application made within the UK)	£305	£422
Tier 4 (Application in Person – in the UK)	£781	£822
Tier 4 Dependant (Application in Person – in the UK)	£680	£822
Visit visa (including student visit)	£80	£83
Extended Student Visit Visa (between 6 & 11 months)	£144	£150

6 April 2014 – ATAS – Doctorate Extension Scheme
A Tier 4 application to study some courses requires you to obtain an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate as part of the application. However, a Tier 4 application to join the Doctorate Extension Scheme will not need an ATAS certificate, even if the course normally needs one, as long as you apply less than 28 days before the course end date, as stated on your CAS.

1 July 2014: maintenance for Tier 4 applicants and their dependants
The required maintenance will increase for Tier 4 applicants and their dependants, for applications made on or after 1 July 2014. The Home Office has explained that this early notice will allow applicants enough time to arrange any extra money now required.
At the same time, the maximum deduction from the required maintenance will increase from £1000 to £1020. This deduction can only be applied for money paid to the Tier 4 sponsor for accommodation fees in university-managed housing.

Read more about Tier 4 fund changes and 'established presence'.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Immigration Service for any further clarification regarding these changes or any other immigration issues.