Immigration Compliance Network

Introduction

The Immigration Compliance Network (ICN) was established in 2014 to provide a safe and supportive forum within which colleagues can share their ideas and concerns about compliance with (primarily) the Tier 4 sponsor requirements.

ICN’s terms of reference are as follows:

• To provide a forum and a ‘safe space’ for peer-to-peer discussion, support and advice-sharing about the practicalities of managing immigration compliance within our diverse institutions
• To share good practice about professional development within this emerging field of immigration compliance management
• To strive to keep the spirit of UKCISA Code of Ethics at the heart of our compliance discussions, whilst ensuring we meet all our Tier 4 sponsor and institutional obligations
• To coordinate examples of operational and policy difficulties experienced by institutions and feed into appropriate lobbying efforts and/or to initiate lobbying as a network

We hold two national meetings a year and our regional groups meet on a regular basis. The network works on a foundation of trust and enables the sharing of good practice between institutions as well as offering less experienced colleagues the opportunity to build a network and benefit from the experience of others.

The last national ICN meeting was held at the Universiy of Salford in May; the meeting was well attended and including external speakers Eleanor Jubb from UUK, giving us an overview of policy, and Nichola Carter (Carter Thomas) giving an update of 'Student Workers, the hostile environment and sponsor compliance' as well as some fantastic peer led workshops and sessions presenting on summer surge survival tips, prevention of illegal working, peer to peer internal audits and Salford's current project on 'Culture of Compliance' If you are a member of ICN and would like copies of the slides and notes from the meeting please contact one of the committee and we will forward them to you. The next national meeting will be held in Warwick in November this year.

ICN National Workshop - 24 November 2017 - University of Warwick - 11.00am - 4.00pm

DRAFT AGENDA

11.00am Opening remarks and ICN committee positions update
11.05am Treasurer’s report
11.20am Presentation from an institution on running successful 'right to study' checks for new students
11.50am Table discussions about September/October arrivals and the impact of UKVI visa processing delays

External speakers section – speakers to be confirmed
12.15pm UKVI operational update
12.35pm UKVI new sponsorship IT update
1.00pm   UUK policy update

1.30pm   Lunch

2.30pm   Presentations on the impact of the 06/04/16 rule and how institutions have responded
3.00pm   Tea break
3.15pm   Regional networking
3.50pm   Closing remarks and capturing action points
4.00pm   Close

UKVI representatives will be invited to the external speakers section only (12.15-1.00pm plus lunch).

ICN Workshop booking form

Cost: £50 for ICN members and £100 for non-ICN members.

Coordinating Committee

The full coordinating committee was first convened in November 2014 and roles were agreed as follows:

Chair: Claire O’Leary
- Oversee the direction of ICN, promote its role to those within the sector and liaise with UKCISA and the Education Sector Operational Steering Group.
Co-Secretaries: Mike Lu and Jennifer Knapp-Wood
- Assist in the planning of the national meetings and ensure minutes are taken and distributed.
Treasurers: Richard Melia
- Oversees the financial administration of the ICN and produce financial reports.
Co-Regional Coordinators: Jim Price and Katerina Stivasari-Jones
- Liaise between the regions and with the regional leads to feedback issues/problems to the Committee. Alert regional leads to the dates of national meetings.
Co-Training and Events Coordinators: Sophie Ferguson and Naheeda Kauser
- Organise national meetings and help to ensure the smooth running of events.

Membership

Individual and institutional membership of ICN is available. Click below fo further information and for our membership form.

ICN membership form

Regional Contacts

Please contact your regional coordinator direct to find out about your local meetings:

London and South East: Dawn Taylor and Sara Smith
Midlands: Jo Cully
North East: Joy Grenyer
Northern Ireland: Sinead Murtagh
North West: Tessa Bandouna
Scotland: Kate Monroe
South West and Wales: Claudia Gareau
Yorkshire and Humberside: John Fell

You are free to choose which region you join and members are encouraged to visit other regions.