The Immigration Service is offering a workshop about the Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme. This will take place on Tuesday 4 June 2013 at 2.30pm in room MS0.4 (Zeeman Building).

In 2012 the Home Office introduced credibility interviews for 12,000 student applicants. For the 2013/14 academic year intake the Home Office plans to interview 100,000 applicants. This roughly equates to one in three applicants being interviewed. If you are a low risk national and therefore benefit from differentiation arrangements you will not be called for interview.

It is not yet clear exactly how these interviews are to be conducted but it is likely that they will either take place at the Embassy you are applying to or via video link with the Home Office in the UK. The interview will last between 5-10 minutes.

The purpose of the interview is to check your credibility as a genuine student. In order to assess this they will ask you questions about your study plans, how these fit into your career aspirations and your ability to pay for your course.

This term's newsletter has articles on coach trips, the international student barometer, exams, student liaison officers, graduation, travel safety, moving off campus, leaving Warwick, police registration, hate crime, immigration and HOST.

To have a look through click here.

The Doctorate Extension Scheme is now open. The scheme is designed to allow full-time Tier 4 students who complete a PhD/doctorate a longer period to find work with a Tier 2 employer, set up as an entrepreneur, or to gain practical work experience in their field.

Applications must be made before your degree is conferred. Information can be found on the UKBA and the Immigration Service websites.

The UKBA have published new application forms to be used for immigration applications from 6 April 2013.

The UKBA have introduced new application fees for immigration applications made from 6 April 2013.

The UK Border Agency has announced there are changes to the Codes of Practice for skilled employers. They are updating the list of skilled occupations to reflect the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) 2010 system.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has informed us that the ATAS application form will be unavailable from 27th March to 8 April 2013 to allow for updates to their system.

If you have experienced excellent support or advice during your time at Warwick, please consider nominating the individual officer, University staff member or team that helped you.

Nominations are now open for the NUS Internationalisation Awards, sponsored by UKCISA. Each year dedicated Students Union officers and university advisers go the extra mile in improving the lives of international students studying in the UK. This is a chance to reward best practice within universities and unions and recognise some of the hard work that is put into supporting international students. The categories this year are:

• International Student Officer of the Year
• International Student of the Year
• Internationalised Students’ Union of the Year
• International Student Adviser of the Year
• Innovation in Internationalizing the Student Experience
• Excellence in International Student Support

Details have just been announced of a super priority visa service which will allow frequent travellers from India to have their visas processed in just one day.