A US National, Heather Mayer, has been refused a UK work permit despite the fact that she has been offered a year-long position as president of the Oxford University's Sports Federation, the Hilary Sports Council.
An email to the Sports Federation, penned by the serving president Hannah McKay, explained the situation: “Unfortunately, in the past six months visa regulations have changed in the UK which affected Heather as a US National.
“Despite the efforts of the University Visa and Immigration Department, Heather has not been able to fulfil the requirements to obtain a visa to stay in the UK to work for the Sports Department beyond October 2013.”
Ms Mayer found out that she would not be able to gain access to the work permit a week after the elections took place. She told the Cherwell that the changes in the law have left her “extraordinarily frustrated”. “It seems they were enacted as an easy way to score political points without considering whom they actually affect,” she added.
There is an additional level of frustration in that Ms Mayer would have had no problems in accessing a post-study visa if she had been applying the year before, but the changes in immigration regulations have meant that this solution is no longer possible.
An Oxford University Sports Federation spokesperson told the news source that in future the organisers will be clarifying with the university work permit desk exactly who is able to eligible to take up the position.
The UK Coalition has introduced a raft of changes to the immigration regulations since it first came to power in May 2010. The overarching aim of these is to cut net migration figures to the “tens of thousands” by the end of Parliament in 2015.