Visa appeals

Appeals can only be made if there is evidence of procedural irregularity in the decision making process.

You must submit your appeal using the approved appeal form within five days of the notification of withdrawal. Please see below for details on how to do this. With your appeal should be emailed with any supporting evidence.

Your appeal will be considered by the Deputy Academic Registrar or nominee and you will be informed of their decision within five working days.

You should receive the Appeal Form with the email notifying you of your termination or denial, but it can also be downloaded here: Visa Appeal Form - Jan 24. Guidance for completing this form can be found in the concertina below.

If possible please complete the form by downloading it onto a computer and typing in the information required.  If you are unable to do this then please ensure that your handwriting is legible.

Privacy Notice and how we will process your information

The information that you give in your appeal, together with any supporting evidence, will be processed by the following:

• Deputy Academic Registrar considers your appeal.
• The Student Appeals, Complaints and Conduct Team process your appeal.
• The Immigration Compliance Team have access to your appeal.
• Representatives from your School(s) who may be asked for information relating to your studies.
• Any other person or service named in your appeal who we may need to contact to check the issue you have raised. g. Finance, Disability Services, I.T. Services.

Other than verification checks (see Supporting Documentation below), your data will not be shared with any third parties without your further consent.

Please see below for information on what to do if you do not wish certain personal information to be made known.

Our legal basis to process your appeals data

The provision of an appeals process is provided as part of the contract we have with our students; and as part of our public task as a University.

Where you have provided any sensitive personal data (Special Category*) we will need your explicit consent in order to process this information. If you do not consent to us processing your sensitive personal data, then we will remove this data from your submission and this will not be considered. Please also see below for information on what to do if you do not wish certain personal information to be made known.

*This includes data related to your health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, sex life, sexual orientation or genetic/biometric data.

Personal Data of others

Please do not submit any unnecessary personal information, particularly about third parties.  For example, if your exceptional circumstances are based around the health of a family member, we do not need to see detailed information about that person.  Instead we need to see evidence about how the circumstances affected you.  If you do decide to give information and any supporting evidence about another person, it is your responsibility to tell that person that you have done this and how the University will be processing their information.

How long we will retain your data

As stated in the University’s retention schedule, information regarding your appeal will be kept securely for 6 years following the last action on the case.

Further privacy information

The University’s full Student Privacy Notice, which contains further information and details your rights (including withdrawing consent), can be found at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/legalandinformationcompliance/informationgovernance/checkyourinformationisbeinghandledcorrectly/students/

SECTION A – Personal and Programme information

Please write your full name as shown on your Keele card. 

Student Number: this is the 8-digit number that appears on your Keele card. e.g. 00987654

Please also state your programme of study, whether you are a postgraduate or undergraduate and your year of study.

SECTION B – Details of withdrawal

You should provide the date on which you were withdrawn due to your VISA issues and the date that you submitted your appeal. You should submit your appeal within 5 days of your VISA decision; if you submit your appeal after this deadline you must provide a valid reason as to why your appeal should be considered after the deadline. 

SECTION C – Details of appeal case

You can only appeal on the grounds of procedural irregularity in determining the grounds for withdrawal.

You should then state in a clear and concise manner the details of the circumstances and how you believe that the procedures went wrong. If you are not sure what to include please seek the advice of the Advice and Support at Keele (ASK) service within the Students’ Union. Their contact details can be found on the appeals web pages at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/students/academiclife/appeals-complaints-conduct/appeals/visaappeals/

This statement will be used to determine if you have grounds for appeal so it is very important that you include everything that you wish to be considered in your appeal.

Supporting Documentation

You must have evidence to support your appeal and this should be submitted with your appeal form. Examples of appropriate evidence include:

• Any correspondence you have received which may indicate procedural irregularity
• Any policies and procedures you believe that the University has not adhered to in the consideration of your VISA status
• Any other evidence which may help to substantiate your claims.

Evidence can be scanned and submitted via email but you must retain original copies of all your evidence.  This is important as original copies may be required by those considering your appeal at a later date.  The evidence also needs to be relevant to the time that the circumstances occurred. If the evidence is not in English, an authenticated independent translation must also be attached.

If your evidence is not available at the time of submitting the form, you should indicate that you have requested it and when you will be able to hand it in.  Do NOT delay the submission of your form because you have to wait for a piece of evidence if this means that you will miss the submission deadline.  

There will be circumstances where it is difficult or impossible to gain independent evidence.  If this is the case please indicate this on the form and say why you are unable to obtain any. 

We may contact the organisation that has issued any supporting documentation to verify authenticity.

Please note that the Academic Registrar or nominee reserves the right to reject an appeal if no evidence has been provided.

Declaration

Forms sent electronically must be sent from your Keele email account.  If you are not able to do this, you should print the form and sign it.   You must tick the boxes relating to the sharing of your or third parties personal data, without this consent, we may be unable to process your appeal.

Independent advice on making an appeal can be obtained from Advice & Support at Keele, Students’ Union

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Appeals at appeals@keele.ac.uk .