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Students are now being interviewed at the visa application centres

Students who make a Tier 4 visa application can now expect to be interviewed when they attend the visa application centre to lodge their application.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
UK Border Agency

The UK Government has announced that a new model for interviewing of Tier 4 student visa customers has commenced in Pakistan. Students who make a Tier 4 visa application can now expect to be interviewed when they attend the visa application centre to lodge their application.

The interview is known as a ‘credibility’ interview and helps confirm that a customer is a genuine student visa applicant. Interviews will be conducted at the visa application centre via a video link with a visa officer based in the UK, and will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

The questions will focus on the student’s chosen course of study and reasons for studying in the UK and will be conducted in English.

The transcript of the interview will be included with the student’s application form and other supporting documents and will be an additional piece of evidence to help the visa officer assess the visa application. Genuine students should not be concerned about the new interview process as it is designed to detect potential abuse of the visa system not to trip up genuine students.

The credibility interview will not affect processing times and most student visa applications will continue to be processed within our 3 week target.

In a small minority of cases, the visa officer might require further information to assess the visa application and the student may then be asked to attend the British High Commission in Islamabad for a face-to-face interview.

The UK Government wants to continue to attract talented international students from the around the world, but has put in place common sense requirements to prevent visa abuse. The UK continues to offer a warm welcome to international students, and has not placed any limit on the number who can come.

The Home Secretary first announced the roll-out of the new interviewing model in December 2012.

Students will be interviewed in 75 visa application centres worldwide.

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Published 6 August 2013