International students have been queuing throughout the night only to be turned away outside the Overseas Visitors Record Office in Greater London this week.
The legal requirement that overseas students report to the police station in question has caused a human backlog, as 30, 000 students ÔÇô roughly a third of the entire international student population in the UK ÔÇô desperately attempted to procure a police registration certificate (PRC) in order to begin their course before the week deadline.
The registration process has been chaotic in previous years but never to such an extent. A statement released by the Metropolitan Police claims that this is ÔÇ£usual for September and OctoberÔÇØ, which raises the question as to why it is so poorly managed.
Metropolitan police were forced to deny entry to those they would not have time to process, meaning hundreds of students were turned away when the office opened at 7:30 am, some of whom had been waiting for hours on end.
The OVRO website does warn students that they will on occasion have to close at very short notice, and also implores students to refrain from queuing during the night ÔÇ£in the interest of health and safety.ÔÇØ However, for overseas students who are new to the country, queuing for hours in typical English weather only to be asked to come back the next day may not be seen as the warmest of welcomes.
The sudden increase in those waiting to obtain their right to study in the UK has attracted the attention of Daniel Stevens, International Students Officer for the National Union of Students, who questions why overseas students even had to register again when the UK Border Agency already holds all their details. The Home Office responded to this query by stating that the local police implement this process.
The attention drawn to what can only be described as an incredibly damaging administrative error has caused the OVRO to change their system, so that now it is possible for students to register online and simply present themselves in person at the office before the end of December.
This change may improve matters for international students in the future for the better, but those who had to queue this year may not be so forgiving.
Ruby Constable
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