Terms & Conditions of Service International Student Support, Advice & Compliance (ISSAC)
Statement on Immigration Advice from ISSAC
Ensure that you read and understand the following statement before contacting the ISSAC team for advice or providing us with any information:
The University’s obligations to the Home Office as a student visa sponsor require us to report students’ actual or suspected breaches of conditions of immigration permission (leave to remain), non attendance and other changes in your circumstances to immigration authorities.
Before providing any information, you should also be aware that the International Student Support, Advice & Compliance (ISSAC) team are employed by the University of Sheffield.
Therefore, any information relating to your visa that you give to your adviser (orally or by any other means) may not be able to be kept confidential if the adviser is obliged to pass this on by the University's sponsor licence responsibilities, and/or because it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, or necessary for performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
It is also important that you understand the University’s responsibilities as sponsor under the Student visa system:
OISC
Immigration advice is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). Higher Education Institutions, such as the University of Sheffield is exempt from registration with the OISC, but not regulation.
The ISSAC team at the University of Sheffield have the appropriate training and competency to offer immigration advice under this exemption.
What you can expect from us
- Our vision is to provide the highest quality of student support service with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and community spirit
- To provide quality support services tailored to our students’ needs
- To meet the standards and work within the boundaries outlined in the OISC’s Code of Standards, the OISC’s regulations and the UKCISA code of ethics.
- To offer a professional and non-judgemental service free of charge, and
- To be treated with courtesy and respect
- To provide accurate advice on immigration matters
- To process your personal data in accordance with data protection law
- To keep accurate records of contact that we have with you. You are entitled to request a copy of your records
- To keep in regular contact and provide you with timely updates on any ongoing case that we are dealing with.
Limitations of our service
- Responsibility - Immigration rules and guidance often change at short or no notice. Whilst we endeavour to ensure that all information we provide to you is up to date and accurate, it is your responsibility to check what visa requirements apply to you before you take action on your situation. We cannot take responsibility for the outcome of any action you take based on our advice. We also cannot take responsibility for decisions made by bodies and agencies outside of the University of Sheffield such as UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), and any consequences that these may have
- Confidentiality - We may be required to provide your personal data (without your consent) to third parties outside of the University of Sheffield in certain situations. For example, where we have a legal obligation to do so, or if we have serious concerns about your wellbeing, or the wellbeing of other people
- Competency - Where your case or query is outside of our area of expertise, we will signpost you to a more specialist service provider. This could be a University service or a service provided by an external organisation.
What we expect from you
- Honesty - We expect you to be honest and open about your circumstances. Giving incorrect or inaccurate information could lead to you receiving incorrect or inaccurate advice. We reserve the right to withdraw our service to you if we deem this to be appropriate.
- Punctuality - We expect you to attend on time for any appointments you have with us (whether telephone, virtual or in person)
- Courtesy - If you cannot attend an appointment that you have with us, we expect you to cancel your appointment (whether telephone, virtual or in person) in advance, giving at least 24 hours’ notice if possible. We also expect that you treat our staff with courtesy and respect.
- Patience - Be aware that there are times that our service is in high demand. We aim to respond to all queries as soon as possible and we kindly ask that you do not send repeat queries to chase up as this may delay our ability to respond to you.
- Engagement - We expect you to respond to any requests that we make to you to take action or provide us with further information in a prompt manner. We also expect that you keep us up to date with any developments on your case, including any contact you have had from other bodies, or agencies. We also expect you to update us with any changes in your circumstances that are relevant to your case (for example contact details)
- Giving sufficient notice - If you are contacting our service about a time sensitive matter (for example if your visa is expiring) we expect you to make contact with us in good time ahead of the deadline. Not doing so may limit the help that we can give you.
- Don't visit our in-person service on campus if you are feeling unwell. Instead, contact us by live chat, telephone or webform (email) instead. If you request a one-to-one discussion, we can set this up as a virtual meeting via Google Meet.
Feedback and complaints
We hope that you have a good experience when using our service, and you can provide feedback of your experience here:
International Student Support Team - feedback
If there is something you are not satisfied with regarding our service, which you would like to raise informally, you can contact the Head of Student Experience & Support:
The University has a complaints procedure. If you do wish to make a formal complaint, visit:
If you prefer, you can complain directly to the OISC about the handling of your immigration case. You can find full details of their complaints procedure here.