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UK_Lawyer
UK_Lawyer, Solicitor
Category: Law
Satisfied Customers: 2458
Experience:  I am a qualified solicitor and an expert in UK law.
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Hi, I am an international student in the UK and I need advice

Customer Question

Hi,
I am an international student in the UK and I need advice on an issue I am having with my school. Can I chat privately with a solicitor? I was instructed by my school before moving to the UK to apply for an IELTS English language visa, even though I was coming here to do a preparatory course for a post graduate diploma in translation exam. I followed their instructions and when I came here I discovered the course I had been promised initially did not exist. After 3 months of them not rectifying the situation, I demanded a compensation for the past 3 months and a hiring a new qualified professor to start the course. Upon which I was threatened with an attendance warning for the English course I did not enroll in and to have my visa revoked based on it. This is urgent and I would appreciate your prompt guidance.
Submitted: 3 years ago.
Category: Law
UK_Lawyer
Expert:  UK_Lawyer replied 3 years ago.
Hi, thank you for your question, I will be happy to help you today.
Could you confirm if you arrived on a Tier 4 visa?
Are you unable to undertake your course?
When does your visa expired?
Kind regards
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Customer: replied 3 years ago.

Hi and thank you for responding,

I am on a student visitor visa for an IELTS English language course which I applied for based on the instructions of the school director even though the course they were offering me and that I had paid a deposit for was mainly a translation course with an english language component. The translation course never existed, they didn't have a structure or any proper professors to teach it. Now they are offering me a refund and "withdrawing the course", but I had already wasted three months since I moved here trying to resolve this. They are threatening that if I don't take their offer they will have immigration revoke my visa. My visa is valid till May 2015.

I hope you can help. They want to meet with me today so the sooner I get advice the better. Thank you.

Regards,

Amal
Expert:  UK_Lawyer replied 3 years ago.
Thank you for your reply.
I am sorry to hear about your situation.
Unfortunately, the issue here is that it seems that the school has breached its own rules and regulations, firstly by not offering you the course that you applied to study and secondly by blackmailing to withdraw their sponsorship and for you to be returned to your home country.
What I would recommend that you do is report the school to the home office and state that you were not provided with the course or the teachings which you arrived to the UK for, the only issue is that the home office do take time to investigate complaints and it can be a while before they speak to the school and it may be a better option for you to accept the refund and then report this incident to the home office can complain to them about the level of service you received from the school.
You can also try and take the refund money and see if there is another school providing the course which you would like and then try and return home and reapply for the visa from there.
I do appreciate the issues this may have caused you, but in my opinion you should take the refund, but also complain to the home office at a later date, you do not want to be in a position where you do not take the refund, the school cancel your visa and you return home with nothing. It is better you take the money and then see if there is any school you can enroll with when you return home.
You may also try and sue the college for the monies that it has cost you since you have been in the UK ie cost of travel and accommodation, but this can be very expensive, if you wish to being a claim against the school you can do so by using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim-online
You can pursue this from inside and or outside the UK.
I hope this answers your question if however you feel that the answer does not cover all the points raised in your question please do not hesitate to ask further questions until you are satisfied with my answer.
Kind regards
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Expert:  UK_Lawyer replied 3 years ago.
I hope this answers your question, if so kindly provide a rating so i can get credited for my time.
Kind regards
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Expert:  UK_Lawyer replied 3 years ago.

Is there anything else I can assist you with? If not kindly provide a rating.

Kind regards

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