You look foreign : bring your passport, it's what the UKBA would want

At a recent academic conference held overseas, a colleague received an email from administrators at the university where he studies and works. They knew he was at the conference because the university had paid for his attendance. But the email said that as he had not signed the overseas student register as he was required to do each week, he was absent without leave and in breach of his overseas student visa conditions. The administrators said they were obliged to notify the UK Border Agency.