The three year rule

So, my boyfriend and I are considering possibly maybe getting married at some point in the future.  If we did and lived in the UK, I know I'd have to wait three years before I could get my master's at a UK uni without paying exorbitant international fees.

Two questions...
1) is it three years from when you enter the country, or three years from getting your FLR approved?
2) Is it three years as of the first day of classes, or the date of your application?  So if my clock started in say July of one year...could I be eligible for home fees in September 3 years later, despite having applied and been accepted *before* living here for 3 years?

Sorry if this is confusing at all- just curious!

You have to be resident in the UK for three years prior to qualifying for home fees.

You become a resident the day you enter on your settlement visa, whether it is a Fiancee visa to get married in the UK, or a Spouse visa having gotten married before coming to the UK.

FYI, if you're willing to double the amount of time it takes to do your degree, some universities do not have fee schedules for part-time international students.... I'm studying part-time and paying part-time home school fees and I've only been here 2 years. I had to prove that I didn't need a student visa and then prove that I was working full-time....

Piggy backing on this.. does anyone know if you can switch from international fees to home fees once you have been resident for the three years?

FYI, if you're willing to double the amount of time it takes to do your degree, some universities do not have fee schedules for part-time international students.... I'm studying part-time and paying part-time home school fees and I've only been here 2 years. I had to prove that I didn't need a student visa and then prove that I was working full-time....

 Do you mind if I ask what Uni do you go to?  I have been trying to research about schools, but I haven't found anything like that. I would like to study part time and right now I can't afford those international fees! Thanks!

Piggy backing on this.. does anyone know if you can switch from international fees to home fees once you have been resident for the three years?

Most schools won't let you do this b/c then they lose out on an important source of revenue - particular among post-grad students.  Check w/your particular school.  Edinburgh University won't let you do this, but some places might. 

Ha!  I've got my answer, courtesy of the University of Sheffield Postgraduate Prospectus.  Posting it here so that someone else can benefit from this info:

(a) The student is settled in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man on the 1 September, 1 January or 1 April closest to the beginning of the first semester of the course and has been ordinarily resident therein throughout a qualifying period of three years immediately preceding that date, and provided that he orshe has not been resident therein, during any part of the three year period, wholly or primarily for the purpose of receiving full time education.

There's a lot of other stuff about EU residency, refugee status et al for people in specific or complicated situations and then they give the definition of "settled":

A person "settled" in the UK is one who is ordinarily resident in the UK and has no restrictions from the Home Office on their right to remain in the UK.

So, basically if you have your ILR and you've been a resident for three years (which would include time on the fiancee/spouse visa/FLR) prior to beginning the course, you're good to go

See that's what I was thinking.  Because our uni has something similar.  If I am a UK citizen by that time or have my ILR and entered the UK as a resident and not as a student then why shouldn't I qualify?

I will have to deal with it at that stage though.  I still have 1.5 years left before I get to three years here and half a year before I can apply and get my ILR. 

Do you mind if I ask what Uni do you go to?  I have been trying to research about schools, but I haven't found anything like that. I would like to study part time and right now I can't afford those international fees! Thanks!

Hiya. I'm at the Institute of Education - University of London. There is no way to really know if you can get away with this unless you see a fee schedule - they won't offer the information up 'cause they obviously really want the international student fees coming in. I would request a fee schedule from schools you like and just see if there is a part-time rate for int'l students.... If there's not, there's really no reason that you shouldn't be able to register as a part-time student and pay part-time fees....

Does the three year rule apply if you are a citizen, but have not lived in the UK?

Nope.. you must be resident in the UK.  Even my hubs would have to pay International fees as he lived in the USA with me for the last 3.5 years.

Nope.. you must be resident in the UK.  Even my hubs would have to pay International fees as he lived in the USA with me for the last 3.5 years.

Yes, this is true at Edinburgh University.  Feel very sorry for kids who had to live abroad b/c their parents were working away.  They have to pay international fees unless they were living in an EU/EEA nation.  BUT, as they are not in the UK on student visas, after 3 years, they pay home fees. 

Hiya. I'm at the Institute of Education - University of London. There is no way to really know if you can get away with this unless you see a fee schedule - they won't offer the information up 'cause they obviously really want the international student fees coming in. I would request a fee schedule from schools you like and just see if there is a part-time rate for int'l students.... If there's not, there's really no reason that you shouldn't be able to register as a part-time student and pay part-time fees....

Thanks AnneR!!

So as now my husband and I are trying for a baby, and I work basically full time and i am sooo sick of paying £430+ per month to my school, are you saying that if i drop a module and just do 5 of the 6 modules that they have to consider me part time? and there for only pay part time fees? as opposed to full international fees? I can prove i came here on a spousal visa as well as i work my butt off at about 30+ hours a week? i go to glamorgan university in pontypridd wales, and on there website there is no such reference to a part time international student?
thanks for any help!!!
joni

It's not a rule as such, and with the news last week that unis are suffering from a lack of international students, they may try to tighten the rules soon....

All I can do is recount my experience. I decided to drop down to part-time after I got married. So I told the registrar that I no longer needed to be in school full-time in order to maintain my visa and wished to study part-time. My uni didn't have a fee schedule for part-time international students (which makes sense because theoretically most international students need a student visa and so the option of going part-time isn't open to them anyway....)

So I've been paying home school part-time fees for two years. The first year they asked me to supply a letter from my employer proving that I was working more than 30 hours a week, but that's the only thing they've asked of me....

Hope that helps.