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International students stranded for Xmas due to visa delays
| Published: | 24 Dec at 6 PM |
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Film school students from overseas caught in the London Met visa controversy are stranded in London over Christmas due to delays in processing new student visas.
Legitimate London School of Film students from across the world were asked by the UK Border Agency in November to surrender their passports and apply for new student visas. The reason given was that London Met, which sponsored the students and issued their visas on behalf of the Film School, had been stripped of its trusted status.
The students, and hundreds more at London Met who had been studying as expected, were promised a fast-track service to ensure they could stay legally and continue with their courses. However, lengthy delays at the Border Agency have resulted in around 700 students being stranded in London without their passports or promised visas, leaving them unable to return home for Christmas with their families.
MA student Nick Refuerzo was hoping to be home in California for what may well be his sick grandmother’s last Christmas, and Nathan Deming is fuming over missing out on his family’s snowy Wisconsin Christmas festivities. Tarah Verna, in her second year of her MA, has already missed her best girlfriend’s wedding in New Delhi and has lost £700 on her cancelled flight.
A petition organised by Film School students reached the office of London Mayor Boris Johnson and resulted in a letter being sent to the Border Agency in an attempt to extradite the granting of the visas and the return of the passports.A spokesperson from the mayor’s office said City Hall was now aware of the situation, adding that he hoped the mayor’s letter would speed resolution of the issue.
Legitimate London School of Film students from across the world were asked by the UK Border Agency in November to surrender their passports and apply for new student visas. The reason given was that London Met, which sponsored the students and issued their visas on behalf of the Film School, had been stripped of its trusted status.
The students, and hundreds more at London Met who had been studying as expected, were promised a fast-track service to ensure they could stay legally and continue with their courses. However, lengthy delays at the Border Agency have resulted in around 700 students being stranded in London without their passports or promised visas, leaving them unable to return home for Christmas with their families.
MA student Nick Refuerzo was hoping to be home in California for what may well be his sick grandmother’s last Christmas, and Nathan Deming is fuming over missing out on his family’s snowy Wisconsin Christmas festivities. Tarah Verna, in her second year of her MA, has already missed her best girlfriend’s wedding in New Delhi and has lost £700 on her cancelled flight.
A petition organised by Film School students reached the office of London Mayor Boris Johnson and resulted in a letter being sent to the Border Agency in an attempt to extradite the granting of the visas and the return of the passports.A spokesperson from the mayor’s office said City Hall was now aware of the situation, adding that he hoped the mayor’s letter would speed resolution of the issue.
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