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Section 3C leave counts as a grant of Tier 4 leave towards five year study limit

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In R (on the application of Ahmed) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (3C leave – whether “granted”) [2017] UKUT 489 (IAC) the tribunal holds as follows, according to the official headnote:

Where a person who is present with leave as a Tier 4 student makes an application for further leave in the same capacity during the currency of that leave, his leave, although extended by statutory effect of s3C, is an extension of that same leave and so it continues to be leave granted to him as a Tier 4 Student. Therefore, for the purposes of paragraph 245ZX(ha) of the Immigration Rules, any period during which leave to remain is extended by operation of s3C does count towards the five-year limit for grant of leave for study at or above degree level.

Paragraph 245ZX(ha) of the Immigration Rules says:

If the course is at degree level or above, the grant of leave to remain the applicant is seeking must not lead to the applicant having been granted more than 5 years in the UK as a Tier 4 (General) Migrant, or as a student, to study at degree level or above…

There are some exceptions but they did not apply to this appellant, who had therefore completed more than five years of study as defined by the rules and was not allowed more.

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Colin Yeo

Immigration and asylum barrister, blogger, writer and consultant at Garden Court Chambers in London and founder of the Free Movement immigration law website.

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