Passports & Visas
The collection and storage of passports and visas of pupils is a highly important part of our admin process. Our Tier 4 Visa sponsorship relies on us processing things correctly and GDPR forces us to be much more careful with how we store passports and for how long we keep them.
General Rules
- All passports, vignettes and visas/BRPs should have a scanned copy saved under the pupils documents on iSAMS
- The details of any visas or passports should always be updated on the Pupils Contacts and Networks Tab -> Passports Visa. See this guide for more information
- Scanned copies of expired passports should not be kept once they are expired, unless they are a Tier 4 visa application.
- Passports should be stored under the correct categories; Passports Initial, Passports Countersigned, Tier 4 Compliance.
- All pupils that require a visa must be set as requiring a visa on iSAMS
- Each document (ie. passport, vignette, visa/BRP) should be scanned on a separate page and named accordingly. BRP card must show both sides of the card.
Admissions
Responsible for all new joiners, including the filing and checking of countersigned passports.
Initial passports should be scanned and stored on iSAMS under the category Passports Initial. The passports details (and visa where applicable) should be entered into the Pupil Contacts & Networks Section with the correct expiry dates etc...
On a new girls first day, Admissions are responsible for uploading countersigned passports and logging them correctly on their checklists. These passports should be stored under Passports Countersigned and the copy in the initial category should be deleted. Boarders’ documents will be scanned by the Boarding House staff and emailed to Admissions.
All countersigned passports should be emailed to admissions and ONLY uploaded by admissions. Boarding Staff and School Office should not be uploading passports for new girls.
Admissions are also responsible for notifying Mark Taylor Partnership that a visa is required once confirmation of acceptance of a place has been received.
Mark Taylor Partnership - Tier 4 Visas
Responsible for uploading all Tier 4 compliance documentation during the application process. Must also update Pupil Contacts & Networks when a new Visa or passport is uploaded.
Boarding Administrator
Primary role is to ensure all passports and visas for Tier 4 pupils are in date. Any expired or soon to be expired must be chased up in time for applications to be made and new copies uploaded once received.
Expired passports should ONLY be kept if they are part of a visa application, otherwise they must be deleted.
Boarding Staff
No longer required to upload passports, vignettes or visas/BRPs to ISAMS. On the first day of term they now simply have to send a countersigned scan of each document to Admissions to upload. Renewals and replacement documents for current girls should be sent by the Boarding Staff to the Boarding Administrator.
School Office
Responsible for ensuring that the rest of the School (ie. ALL day girls (Junior & Senior) and ALL non Tier 4 visa holders) have an in date passport on ISAMS at all times. Where a girl does not hold a current passport a birth certificate is sufficient along with confirmation from the parent that the pupil does not have a passport.
New passports must be countersigned and uploaded. The details then added to the Pupil Contacts & Networks tab.
Expired passport scans for non-Tier 4 visa holders must be deleted once a new one is obtained
Scheduled Reports
These are delivered once a week via iSAMS via email to the appropriate person to allow them to follow up on upcoming expiry dates.
- Expired/Soon to expire visas - Boarding Administrator
- Expired/Soon to expire passports for Tier 4 pupils - Boarding Administrator
- Expired/Soon to expire passports for ALL (Senior & Junior) non-Tier 4 pupils (Day & Boarding) - School Office.