Universities in the UK wishing to admit international students are required to hold a Tier 4 Licence and are subject to requirements on recruitment, record keeping, visa monitoring and completion rates of international students. The Home Office places responsibilities on both students and universities to ensure immigration laws are followed. As a Tier 4 Sponsor, University of Brighton must check that all students requiring a visa have valid immigration permission and are eligible to study in the UK via Right to Study checks.
About University of Brighton
Since its beginnings in 1850s, University of Brighton has grown into a complex and diverse institution based in three towns across the south coast of England. The university has a longstanding focus delivering professional courses and research that transforms lives and knowledge that nurtures communities worldwide. The University is an international institution with a global reputation for excellence. Each year the University welcomes a high percentage of international students, amounting to approximately 12% of the entire student population.
Why University of Brighton needed a Right to Study solution?
Due to the sheer volume of student identity documents that needed checking, it became logistically difficult for University of Brighton to keep track of it’s international students on visas and their expiry dates. The University’s previous passport and visa checking procedures were very cumbersome. The manual process of scanning, printing and storing identification documents became inefficient and unmanageable. University staff then need to manually re-enter ID documents information on to a separate student record system. Another issue that arose was that that all university staff needed to be trained and up-to-date with the latest Home Office legislation to ensure they conducted fully compliant checks. University of Brighton needed a robust system that would check ID documents and visas and store all legitimate candidate documentation securely, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
How NorthRow Helped?
University of Brighton turned to NorthRow for an automated document verification solution which would check, authenticate and retain student’s documentation whilst establishing their Right to Study in the UK. NorthRow provided a more efficient means of scanning and retaining passport and visas documentation.
NorthRow’s gold standard Identity Document Scanner performs ultraviolet and infrared scans, which immediately identifies any fraudulent documents, helping University of Brighton to meet Visa and Immigration legislation. Having all documents on an easily searchable database also made it far easier for staff to access and monitor visa expiry dates and to help ensure compliance with GDPR. Alerts on Visa expiry dates were also activated – so University staff always knew when their students needed to apply for new Visas or when to terminate their contracts.
“NorthRow has made our scanning procedures far more consistent and efficient. Their solution has reduced the time taken to perform passport and visa checks and reduced waiting times for a key component of the enrolment process.” Chris Jarvis, Academic Services Assistant (Student Visa Compliance).
Summary
University of Brighton turned to NorthRow’s automated documentation verification service to help check, authenticate and retain and monitor student candidate’s identity documents and visa status, whilst validating if an individual has the Right to Study in the UK. This enabled University of Brighton to make crucial data-driven decisions, instantly, about whom they allowed into their institution and to ensure that they remain compliant with the latest Home Office legislation.
Key Benefits
About NorthRow
NorthRow provides an automated compliance solution across a wide range of industries helping organisations deliver a complete picture of their clients, customers and employees, to enable them to adhere to increasing regulation and to improve onboarding processes.
