What's new?

The Luggage Store is due to close for deposits on Friday 14th June (this Friday).  It will then be closed until 12th September 2013.

If you have already paid to deposit your luggage but have not yet done so you MUST make sure that it is deposited by no later than this Friday 14th June at 2pm.  Please do not wait until Friday 14th June to deposit your luggage however as we anticipate that it will be very busy on this day.

The online payment facility for the Luggage Store is now available.  To pay online please visit the Payment page.  The Luggage Store costs £15 per item and you can store up to a maximum of 6 items (a maximum total of £90.00).  The only items that will be accepted are suitcases and the boxes that we provide in the Store. 

For more information please visit: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/current-students/hub/iss/luggage-store/

The Luggage Store will be open for international and EU students to store their luggage over the summer from 20th May to 4th June 2013.  You must pay online before you can deposit your luggage and the online payment will be open from Monday 13th May 2013.  To make your payment online please visit the Payment page.

Unfortunately we will be unable to accept luggage for students on placement in 2013/14 as the room will be used for other purposes after the summer vacation.

For more information on the Luggage Store including how it works and how much it costs, please visit: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/current-students/hub/iss/luggage-store/

The minimum salary for the Tier 2 General visa will increase from £20,000 to £20,300 from 6th April 2013.  This means that to be able to apply for the Tier 2 General visa for working in the UK after your course you must be paid at £20,300 per year or above.  In some cases you may need to be paid more.  Please contact The Hub for more information on this.

The Home Office has also announced that it will introduce lower "new entrants" wages for Tier 2 General.  This will be for recent graduates switching from a Tier 4 Student or old style Student visa to a Tier 2 General visa and who meet the post-study work provisions.

For example, a new entrant Financial Manager will be expected to earn at least £25,600 rather than the normal salary of £37,500 and a new entrant Business Analyst will be expected to earn at least £24,900 rather than the normal salary of £30,600.

For visa applications made on or after 6th April 2013 please note the following increase in application fee:

• Tier 4 and Tier 4 dependant entry clearance: £298
• Tier 4 leave to remain: £406 (dependants applying separately including children aged 18 or over who apply at the same time as the Tier 4 migrant pay the same fee)
• Leave to remain for Tier 4 dependants who do not apply separately: £305
• PEO appointments will be charged differently from now: £100 to make an appointment plus the postal fee for the leave to remain application plus £275 for the expedited application, ie £781 for a Tier 4 PEO application
• 11-month student visitor concession entry clearance: £144
• Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur): same fees as for Tier 4, but CESC nationals pay £268 for entry clearance and £365 for leave to remain
• Tier 2: £494 for entry clearance and £578 for leave to remain (£445 and £520 respectively for CESC nationals)

For all new students starting in 2013. You can now register for our FREE Meet and Greet Service from Birmingham Airport, running from Saturday 21 – Monday 23 September 2013. Find out more here: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/new-student/international-students/meet-and-greet/

"the loan is provided by the national government, the state or regional government or a government sponsored student loan company or is part of an academic or educational loans scheme."

This will affect all applications made on or after 28 February 2013 in the UK and overseas.

Please see our webpage for further information.

For MPharmacy and MSc OSPAP students who will graduate in 2013 

If you are currently studying on the MPharmacy or MSc OSPAP course and will graduate in 2013 and are considering applying for a Tier 5 visa through the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)'s PPSS scheme, please note that applications to the scheme will be accepted by the RPS from 1st May 2013.  They encourage you to apply as soon as possible after this date, however please remember that you must have been awarded your qualification before you can apply.

You will need to show that you have had £900 available in a bank account in your name for a period of 90 days at the time of application so if you intend to apply for this visa you will need to start preparing the money. Please note that this may amount my increase in April 2013.

Please speak to an Adviser at the Hub for more information and before making your application to the RPS.  The Tier 5 for Pre-registration Employment web page has more information.