graceplant

Hello everyone. I wanted to explain my current situation and see if anyone has any advice. I have been in the USA since July 2007 on an F1 student visa. I studied at a community college where I payed international fees, recieved my Associates degree with a major in Fine Art and have worked for a year in my subject field as allowed by my student visa. I am due to return home to the UK where I was born and raised, in April 2011 when my visa is done. It has always been my intention to return home and study further with the intent to join the workforce in the UK. My time in the US was for the sole purpose of studying.
Now I am being told that I must pay international tuition fees again, in my own country, since I have lived outside the EU for 3 years. This seems unfair and I am wondering if there are any exceptions to this rule. Has anyone heard of a similar situation where home fees have been granted? Who do i contact to expain my situation and appeal the international fees? Is it best to contact each university seperatley or should i talk to UCAS? It will not be possible for me to attend university or a higher education college if I am forced to pay international fees. (I am aware that fees could be tripiling anyway but I have found one foundation degree at a higher education college that is still very reasonable at home rate prices.)
I'm not sure if this makes a difference but my entire family is still living in the UK and my home address, my parents house, hasn't changed.
Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

dunroving

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=fees

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=fees

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=fees

john5655

the simple answer to your question is no, you are not eligible as you must be ordinarily resident in UK for the three years prior to entering university

but you should understand that the decision is made by the individual university, not the government or UCAS, plus you may also need to get approval from your local LEA (by local I mean the area where you have a history, such as your family's home)

it is possible you may get a sympathetic ear seeing as increasing numbers of school leavers may not now enter university due to rising costs of university education

Sue

graceplant, you might have a slim chance if you can prove your absence was only temporary. As you have only been in the US for your education maybe you would qualify.

Recently we've just had to complete a Fee Assessment form for our son who is applying to UK universities and one section of the form stated that if the absence from the UK was temporary that they would want to see evidence of that: "A letter from the employer of the person concerned confirming that the employment was temporary (eg.contract/secondment) and any other evidence that shows that you are/were only temporarily in the overseas country." I know that some members of our Middle East forum who are on temporary assignments, in places such as Dubai etc, have been able to get home based fees for their children based on their temporary absence. As your absence from the UK was due to education then perhaps you would therefore be able to cite that reason as a temporary absence. It's worth a try.

john5655

I agree with Sue, this may be a useful avenue but usually it is the parents who are temporarily overseas, not the student, but your case may be helped if you can prove you returned to UK during semester breaks to be with family

on a similar and recent thread I mentioned that I proved my temporary absence from UK to get my son's home status approved and I had been working overseas for 25 years

dunroving

I have a bit more time to respond than I had the other day.

The individual universities are the ones who would make the decision, not UCAS. You should contact their Registry Office (you should be able to find contact details via a search of their Web site) and ask for a fees assessment form (it may be downloadable from their site, or they will email you a copy).

It's always worth a punt, but in these cash-strapped times, I think a lot of universities will be leaning more towards anything that will bring in more money, including classifying you as an international student.

I would stress the fact that your family has been in the UK all this time as a sign that you were overseas on a temporary basis - can't guarantee this will work, and ironically this may be interpreted by some universities that you have abandoned your home status (by choosing to leave your family in order to study overseas). I noticed also that you have a US fiance - further evidence (in their eyes) that you had intention to abandon your UK residence status.

Good luck with it - as the saying goes, you can't win if you don't try. All it takes is one university to say yes (but this may mean you won't get your first, or second, or third, choice university).

Have you looked into the Open University?

graceplant

Thank you to everybody for your helpful replies. I certainly feel that there is a glimmer of hope now. I have decided to go ahead and apply through UCAS. I have tried contacting several colleges seperately but most of them have no knowledge of a fees assesment form. There is a section on the UCAS application that seems to be the fee sassesment so I'm assuming once this is filled out it will be sent to each college or uni i apply to. I am going to include a cover letter explaining my situation and highlight the fact that my abscense was only temporary and perhaps also mention all the tax I have paid through jobs in the UK in the past. I am moving home in April and my fiance, then to be husband, will join me in June. He is a US citizen and will be aplying for a spouse visa in the UK. I am wondering if this will affect the decision or if they will ever need to know about him in the first place. On my application I will list myself as single as at the time of applying I will be unmarried. Does anyone know if this will be a problem. Thanks again for all the responses

Mummy in the foothills

I don't see how they can charge you international fees, you were away studying on a student visa and never a permanent resident of another country, it was a temp study visa right?

graceplant

Yes it was a temporary student visa and I always planned to come home at the end of it. I also payed international student fees there.

dunroving

You are under no obligation to report the situation with your fiance, and personally, I would not mention it (because it could be taken as evidence of intent to emigrate to the US, regardless of whether you were in the US on a temporary student visa - there are plenty of examples of people who are permanent residents of the US but whose initial residence was temporary, e.g., student visa, work permit, etc.). It would merely complicate things, IMO, and I can't see any way in which it will help.

Perhaps the strongest argument for your residence outside the US being a temporary thing is to emphasize that your move to the US was in order to get an education, and not to settle in the US.

Bermudashorts

The Open University wil ask about and apply the same rules over residency. I wanted to apply for a course after living in Bermuda for a couple of years on a temporary work permit.

dave99

couldnt you just fidge the dates to appear you had not been abroad for long, or alternatively just tell them you have been living at your parents address

I dont think a university would have the time or money to investigate you?

dunroving

The problem is that supporting documentation (transcripts, etc.) will show the true dates. It wouldn't take a lot of work to investigate the truth in this case - and we're talking about a difference in income to the university of about £6,000 a year, so most universities take it pretty seriously.

Better to tell the truth and make a case for home fees based on the rationales suggested earlier, IMO.

JAJ

"Ordinary residence" is discussed at:
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/inf..._residence.php

also:
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/inf...ni.php#mistake

dunroving

I read through both of these sources in detail as part of appealing the fees status of a postgrad student, described in my thread:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=672934

- despite the specifics of the definitions contained in these documents, there is a certain amount of discretionary leeway, and the success of my postgrad student's appeal (after paying international fees for 6 years) is a case in point. It's worth a punt unless you are clearly nowhere near satisfying the home fees requirements.