Leaving for the Summer
Hi All -
I’m an MSc Student in SPS. I’ve met with my dissertation advisor (in person) and she’s offered to have online meetings with me for the duration of the process. She also said I need to check with student immigration if I plan to leave for all or part of the summer.
I’ve heard several things about how the university tracks attendance during the summer months, and I’m curious if anyone here has any more specifics or advice.
• I’ve heard that the UK Home Office tracks your movements at the border and will take unilateral action if you are gone more than the [undefined] maximum amount. I’m skeptical about this approach. If this were true, I expect many of the below items wouldn’t be needed.
• I’ve heard that the university tracks attendance via “engagement points” through the dissertation process. As long as you attend your advisor meeting (which can happen online), you should receive credits and it shouldn’t trigger a check.
• I’ve just heard that student immigration will call folks in for in person check-ins. I don’t know if this is random or triggered by some internal process. I believe the person who (anecdotally) was called in had two online advisor meetings with no in person meeting.
• I’ve heard there is a “leave of absence” you can apply for. I’ve heard it is available if you begin a job during the summer. I’ve also heard that it’s only if the job is related to your field of study and is more like a dissertation placement… if I’m working abroad in an unrelated job/field, I assume I would not be eligible for a LOA.
• I do not plan to peruse the graduate visa post graduation. If (worse case) it’s deemed that I’ve been out of the UK for too much of the summer and my visa is cancelled, is an active student visa a requirement to graduate? If I submit my dissertation early (like, in June), do I need to retain the student visa through the summer, just because? Sounds like a hostage situation…..
Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!