Legal News
Grade A student unable to apply for student loan because of immigration status (17 August 2015)
Date: 17/08/2015
A student with four grade A’s at A level has been told he will not be eligible for a student loan because of his immigration status.
The Guardian reports that Hassan al-Sherbaz, 18, has won a place to study science at Imperial College London – but has been refused a student loan, despite having lived in Britain for half his life.
He arrived in the UK with his parents in 2006, at the age of nine – and was educated at primary and secondary schools in Milton Keynes.
However, when Sherbaz applied for a student loan, he was told his immigration status of discretionary leave to remain would not make him eligible for a loan – meaning he would have to pay the international student tuition fee of £26,000 a year.
He is now waiting to hear whether he will be able to take up the offer from Imperial College – or whether he will be able to defer his place for two years to enable him to save up for the fees. He is also planning to apply for indefinite leave to remain status, which will make him eligible for student finance.
Sherbaz achieved A grades in maths, further maths, physics and chemistry at A level – and was planning to study chemical engineering at Imperial College London, before having a career in the oil industry.
“I have a lot of ambitions in helping society and the environment,” he said.
Sherbaz’s family relocated to the UK from the Iraqi capital Baghdad in 2006, when his father came to Britain to study for a PhD.
Sherbaz says he remembers the Iraqi capital as “very dangerous”.
“There were killings in the street,” he said. “It was something that was part of our daily lives.”
A recent Supreme Court decision could pave the way for hundreds of people who are settled in Britain – and have been educated at schools in Britain – to apply for loans to fund higher education.
The Supreme Court found that the blanket exclusionary rule preventing anyone except UK citizens – or those with indefinite leave to remain in the UK – from applying for student loans was “disproportionate” and could not be justified.
The government is currently considering the Supreme Court ruling.
Duncan Lewis Immigration Lawyers
Duncan Lewis immigration lawyers are one of the UK’s leading providers of Legal Aid immigration advice – and can advise migrants from countries outside the EU on a wide range of immigration matters, including student visas and eligibility for student loans.
Duncan Lewis has offices nationwide and is also able to advise on:
• Asylum in the UK and asylum appeals
• British citizenship
• Human Rights Act
• Illegal entry to the UK
• Marriage in the UK
• Modern Slavery Bill
• Right to work in the UK
• Visa overstays.
For expert legal advice on UK immigration law, call Duncan Lewis immigration lawyers on 020 7923 4020.