Student visa: within the UK

Guidance notes

1. Obtain or request your Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS)

If you have accepted an unconditional offer to start a new course

If you are an applicant coming to study a new course at the university, we are unable to issue you with a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS), which you need to make the visa application, until you have paid the tuition fee deposit, or provided evidence of official financial sponsorship, and returned a fully completed Visa Questionnaire form.

• If you, or your parents, are paying for your studies i.e. you are self-funding, you will need to pay the £1,500 tuition fee deposit (unless exempt). You can pay your tuition fee deposit here. If your government or international sponsorship agency is paying for your studies i.e. you are in receipt of official financial sponsorship, you will need to provide written evidence to the university that your government, or international agency will pay for your tuition fees.

• You need to complete and submit an online CAS Questionnaire form which you can access through your Applicant Central account, in the Visa Information section, once your offer is made unconditional. Provided that you have fully completed the CAS Questionnaire; provided the required documents; paid the tuition fee deposit or provided evidence of official sponsorship; and met the immigration rules relating to ‘academic progression’ and ‘time limits on study in the UK’ – the university will issue you with a CAS number. Your CAS Statement which includes the CAS number will be sent to you by email.

Find out more

You can find out more about how the university sponsors its students under the Student immigration system and the academic progression and time limits on study rules.

If you’re already a student and need to complete the course you have already started

If you are a current student and you need to make a Student visa application to complete your course, you will need to request a CAS from the university. In order to do this you must fully complete the Student Immigration Sponsorship form (pdf) and get your School of Study to sign it off. When you have completed the form, you must send it along with a scanned copy of your passport to the Visa Compliance Team at casenquiries@brighton.ac.uk.

Once the Student Visa Compliance team receives your fully completed form it will aim to make a decision on your request for a CAS within approximately ten working days. If your request is successful, i.e. as long as you meet the immigration rules relating to ‘academic progression’ and ‘time limits on study in the UK’, and you are not in debt to the university, it will send your CAS Statement including the CAS number to you by email.

2. Check if you can make your Student visa application in the UK, or whether you need to leave and apply from outside of the UK

If you have accepted an unconditional offer to start a new course

1. '28-day rule'. You can only apply for a Student visa from within the UK if your new course starts no more than 28 days after the end date of your current visa. However, if the new course starts more than 28 days after your current visa expires then you cannot apply from within the UK and you will have to leave the UK and apply from your home country.
2. Successful completion of previous course: if you have, or previously had, Student immigration permission, you can only apply for a Student visa from within the UK if you have successfully completed the course for which you were granted student immigration permission. (The only exception is if you began a course at an education institution which had its licence revoked and you are coming to the university to complete the same course.) If you have not successfully completed your previous course then you cannot apply from within the UK and you will have to apply from your home country.
3. 'Switching rule'. You can apply for a Student visa from within the UK provided that your current visa is not in one of the following categories: Visitor; Short-term Student; Parent of a Child Student; Seasonal or Domestic Worker; or you have leave outside of the immigration rules. However, if your current visa is in one of the categories above you cannot apply from within the UK and you will have to leave the UK and apply from your home country.

If you’re already a student and need to complete the course you have already started

You can only make a Student visa application from within the UK if you are applying for one of the following reasons:

1. In order to re-sit an examination, or repeat a course module, or because you have re-sat an examination or repeated a module in a previous academic year of the same course; or
2. In order to undertake a placement year or study abroad programme, or because you have undertaken a placement year or study abroad programme in a previous academic year of the same course; or 
3. In order to complete a PhD for which you were last given a  Student visa; or
4. In order to undertake a role as a Student Union Sabbatical Officer, or because you have previously undertaken the role and need to complete your course; or 
5. In order to apply for Student immigration permission under the Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES); or
6. If you are studying Medicine and you are intercalating to undertake a Bachelor's or Master's degree, or PhD, or you are applying to complete your Medicine degree after having completed your intercalation.

If you do not meet one of the requirements above you cannot make a Student application in the UK in order to complete your course. You will have to leave the UK and make the Student application from your home country. This means that you will have to leave the UK and apply for a Student visa from your home country if you have changed courses since your last visa was issued and as a result of changing courses you need to make a Student application to complete your current course.

If you are not sure whether you can make your Student application from within the UK, or whether you need to leave the UK and make your Student application in your home country, please contact us using the online visa enquiry form.

If you cannot make the Student application in the UK and have to leave the UK and apply in your home country please use our guidance on applying outside of the UK.

3. Obtain an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate if you need one

An ATAS certificate is a security clearance issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to study courses in certain subject areas.

You will need to obtain an ATAS certificate every time you make a Student immigration application if you are studying or going to study a course which is designated as requiring an ATAS certificate. These ATAS required courses are mainly at PhD and MRes level but there are a few Masters degrees which require an ATAS certificate too. 

Please note however, that if you are a national of one of the countries below, you will not need to obtain an ATAS certificate, even if you are going to study an ATAS required course. 

• Australia
• Canada
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• South Korea
• United States of America (USA)
• Any of the European Economic Area (EEA) countries
• Switzerland.

If you are not sure whether you require an ATAS certificate

If you are a national of a country not listed, your offer letter will tell you whether you require an ATAS certificate or not, and this will also be confirmed on the CAS.

If you are not sure whether you require an ATAS certificate please see the guidance, or contact us using the online visa enquiry form.

If you require an ATAS certificate you can apply for one on the UK government website. It can take the FCO up to 6 weeks to issue an ATAS certificate and so you must make your ATAS application in plenty of time.

4. Apply for your Student visa application in plenty of time and make sure that it is valid

If you’re an applicant and have accepted an unconditional offer to start a course

If your current Student visa was issued for you to study at another institution (e.g. university, embedded college or independent school) and you are making a Student visa application to start a course at the university, you must make your application using the University of Brighton’s CAS before the date that your visa expires and before the start date of your University of Brighton course. This is because UK immigration law says that you cannot enrol, or study, at the university until you have made the Student application using the university’s CAS.

If you’re already a student and need to complete the course you have already started

It is very important that you make your Student visa application – that is apply online and pay the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) – on or before the date that your current visa expires. For example, if your visa expires on 1st October 2020, you must meet the requirements of the application, complete the application form online and pay for your application at the very latest on 1st October 2020.

Important: Information for applicants and existing students

Make sure that your application is valid

The immigration rules state that in order to make a valid application, you must meet all of the requirements below. If you meet these requirements the UKVI will consider if you application meets the substantive requirements - the academic (confirmed by CAS) and finance (sufficient funds) requirements. However, if you do not meet the requirements below, UKVI will reject your application as invalid, even if you meet the substantive requirements.

In order to make a valid application you must:

• Apply using the correct Student visa application form
• Pay the Student visa application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
• Provide a valid passport with your application
• Provide your biometrics at the arranged appointment
• Provide a CAS number with your application that was issued before the date of your visa application
• If you have completed a course in the UK in the past 12 months, for which you received official financial sponsorship (fees and living costs) from your government or international sponsorship agency, you must provide the written consent of that sponsor to you making this application.

Your immigration status while you wait for the Home Office to process your application

If you make a valid application before your existing visa expires, you will remain in the UK legally while the Home Office processes your application, even if a decision is not made on your application until after your current visa expires, which is nearly always the case.

If you do not make your application before, or on the date your visa expires, you will ‘overstay’ your visa and you will not be able to make the Student application in the UK. You will have to leave the UK and make your application from your home country. The only exception to this is if you apply within 14 days of the expiry of your visa for ‘good reason’ i.e. because you have been in hospital for emergency treatment (evidenced by an official letter verifying the dates of admission and discharge and the nature of the treatment).

If you do overstay without having been in hospital, or overstay for more than 14 days and then make a Student application, the Home Office will automatically refuse the application, even if you meet all the other requirements of the application. 

5. Are you exempt from having to meet the 'financial requirement' of the application? If you are not exempt, calculate how much money you will require to meet the 'finance requirement'

Am I exempt from the 'finance requirement' or will I have to show a certain amount of money?

You will be exempt from the finance requirement and not have to show you have a certain amount of money with the visa application if on the date of your visa application, you will have lived in the UK with a valid visa for 12 months or more. If you meet this requirement you will not need to meet the financial requirement in the way described below.

Please note that this exemption only applies to Student applications made in the UK; it does not apply to applications made outside of the UK, even if you have lived in the UK for 12 months or more.

How to meet the 'finance requirement' if you are not exempt

If you will receive official financial sponsorship from your government, or an international sponsorship agency

If your sponsorship covers all of your tuition fees and living costs (ie at least £1,015 per month of your course) please skip the rest of this section and go to section 7. If your official financial sponsorship does not cover all of your tuition fees, or all of your living costs (ie not £1,015 per month), then you will need to cover the shortfall with your own funds as below.

If you, or your parents, will pay for your studies i.e. you are 'self-funding'

You will need to prove to the Home Office that you have an amount of money, which is equal to at least the sum of your outstanding tuition fees plus £1,015 per month of your course for your living costs up to a maximum of £9,135. For example, if your tuition fees are £15,000 and your course is for three years you will need to have at least £24,135 (£15,000 for fees plus £9,135 for living costs) in your name, or a parent’s name, in order to meet the maintenance requirement of the visa.

If your money is held in a currency other than pounds sterling (GBP)

You need to use the OANDA website to convert them into pounds sterling (GBP). The Home Office uses the exchange rate on the date of your visa application to determine the amount of funds. You need to consider this if your currency is fluctuating against sterling at the time of your application. If this is the case it is safer to hold more money than is required to guard against a possible depreciation of your currency against the pound at the time of your application.

If you have already paid money to the university for your tuition fees or halls of residence

You can deduct any tuition fees, including your tuition fee deposit, you have already paid to the university before you make the visa application from the amount of money you require. For example, in the example above if your tuition fees are £15,000 per year and you have already paid the tuition fee deposit of £1,500 then you will need to have at least £22,635 (£13,500 for fees plus £9,135 for living costs).

Payments made to the university before the date of the visa application

Payments for university halls of residence but not privately rented accommodation can also be reduced from the total amount you need to show for your maintenance but only up to a maximum of £1,265. For example, even if you have paid £4,000 towards your halls of residence you can only reduce the living costs you require by £1,265 from £9,135 to £7,870.

Any payments for tuition fees or halls of residence made before the date of the visa application must be shown on your CAS as otherwise they will not be considered by the Home Office unless you provide an official original receipt of the payment issued by the university.

Please note that although the university does accept payment of tuition fees by instalments, the Home Office requires the balance of the fees that you owe to be shown in your account, regardless of any arrangements you make with the university to pay fees in instalments.

Applying with your dependants?

If you are also applying for your dependants to join you in the UK during your course the amount of money you will require is much higher. Please see section 11.

6. Keep the money for the correct length of time and in the correct format

If you are not exempt from the 'finance requirement', in addition to having enough money in your name, your parent’s name, or your partner's name (if the are applying at the same time as you or they already have immigration permission), you will also have to:

1. Have held the required amount of money for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of the visa application, and
2. Have held the required amount of money on every day of the 28 day period i.e. you cannot have less than the required amount of money even for just one day during the 28 days, and
3. The end date of the 28 day period ie the date of the bank statement must be no more than 31 days before the date of the visa application.
4. Still have the required amount of money on the date of the visa application, and
5. Hold the money in a personal bank account, provided that you can access the funds immediately. These include current, deposit, savings and investment accounts, as well as pension funds which can be withdrawn. 
6. Please note that business accounts, even if you, or your parent, are the sole owner of the enterprise, are not acceptable.
7. You cannot rely on money held in other accounts or financial instruments such as shares, bonds, credit cards, overdrafts or pension funds that cannot be withdrawn immediately.
8. The UKVI will not consider funds held in a financial institution, if it does not allow the visa officer to make 'satisfactory verification checks', is not regulated by an 'appropriate body' or does not use 'electronic record keeping'.

Loans

If you are relying on a loan to meet the maintenance requirement, you must have a loan, which is provided by your national, state or regional government, or by a government sponsored student loan company, or part of an official educational/academic loan scheme. If you are not sure how much money you are required to have, or in what format to hold it, please contact us using the online visa enquiry form.

Important: the date of your application

Please note that the date of your Student application made in the UK is the date that you submit the online application form and pay the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). This is different to the date of your appointment with UKVCAS to provide your biometrics. It is the date of application that is relevant in terms of the requirements of the application and not the date of the biometric appointment.

7. Collect the required documents and make sure that they are in the correct format

You must provide the documents listed below with your application.

You can provide either the originals or copies of the documents, but you must provide the original version of your passport. If you provide a document that is not in English, you must also provide a fully certified translation of the document, which has been translated by a professional translator. The documents you need to obtain and provide with your application depend on whether you are exempt from the 'financial requirement' as described in section 5.

All students have to provide the following documents with their application:

1. Your current passport

2. Your UK Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) (if you have one)

3. An ATAS clearance certificate (if you are required to have one)

4. If you are aged under 18 at the date of application: a letter of consent from your parents confirming their relationship to you and their consent to your travel to and living arrangements in the UK. You must also provide your birth certificate

5. If you are financially sponsored by your government, or an international sponsor agency, or you have been in the previous 12 months: a letter from your sponsor confirming that they unconditionally consent to you making the Student application to remain in the UK.

Students who are NOT exempt from the ‘finance requirement’ (because you will not have lived in the UK for 12 months before the date of the application) will also have to provide:

1. Proof that you have sufficient money for the finance requirement in the form of either *:

• Your bank statements; or
• Your parent's bank statements; or
• Your partner's bank statements (if they are applying at the same time as you or they already have immigration permission); or
• An official loan letter from your government or academic loan scheme; or
• An official letter of financial sponsorship from your government, or an international sponsor agency, confirming its financial support of your studies.

Please note that the content and format of the financial documents you provide with your application must meet the exact requirements as set out by the Home Office in its Student Policy Guidance. Failure to do so may mean that your application could be refused.

2. Your birth certificate(if you are using your parent’s bank statement) *

3. A letter of consent from your parents to you using their money in the UK for your education (if you are using your parent’s bank statement) *

Different Documentary Requirements (Low-Risk Nationals)

The differentiation arrangements mean that if you are not exempt from the financial requirement and you are a national of one of the countries listed below, you should collect all of the required documents, but you do not have to provide the financial documents with your Student visa application i.e. you do not have to provide the documents marked in the list with an asterisk *.

However, you must still meet the requirements of the immigration rules for the application i.e. have sufficient money for the required time and collect all of the documents as the Home Office can request that you provide the documents at a later stage before it will decide your application.

All countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) (EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; Switzerland; Australia; Bahrain; Barbados; Brazil; British National (Overseas); Botswana; Brunei; Cambodia; Canada; Chile; China; Dominican Republic; Indonesia; Japan; Hong Kong; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Macau SAR; Malaysia; Mauritius; Mexico; New Zealand; Oman; Peru; Qatar; Serbia; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan; Thailand; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; United States of America (USA).

If you are not sure whether you need to provide a document with your application, or whether a document you have contains the correct information and is in the required format, please contact us using the online visa enquiry form.

8. Make your application: complete the Student visa online application form for applying in the UK, pay the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and save the document checklist

In order to make your application you will need to complete an online application form. You do this by clicking the Apply Now button at the bottom of this Home Office webpage.

You will be asked to enter your email address and create a password so that you can log back into your application at a later date. When you logout of your application the Home Office will send you an email with a link to your application form.

How long will the Home Office take to process my application?

You will note that there are three options for making the application; Standard; Priority and Super-priority. You can read about the different application options at UKCISA: how do I submit my application if I am applying in the UK? You will note that the Home Office aims to process a Standard application within eight weeks; a Priority application within five working days (from the date of your biometric appointment); and a Super-priority application the next working day (after your biometric appointment). Please note that it can take up to seven working days from the date of the Home Office decision for you to receive the new BRP. Therefore, if you have to travel outside of the UK urgently within three months of making your application, you will have to make either a Priority or Super-priority application.

Have your application checked by an International Student Adviser

If you would like to come to the Student Advice Service and have an International Student Adviser check your documents and application form and advise you on whether your application meets the requirements, please complete sections 1 (Start), 2 (Application) and 3 (Documents) of the application form and stop and save your application and logout. Do not go beyond this point because if you do and you complete section 4, we cannot change any of the answers you have provided. The Student Advice Service is on the second floor of the Tithe Barn which is on the Moulsecoomb campus. Alternatively, please contact us using the visa enquiry form.

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

If you do not wish to have your application checked, or you are unable to come to the service, please note that after you complete sections 2 (Application) and 3 (Documents) you will need to complete the 4 (Declaration) stage. After this you will be required to pay the IHS, which entitles you to access NHS treatment in the UK. The charge for Students and their dependants is £470 per person for each year you will be granted permission to be in the UK, and £235 for a period of less than six months (any period over six months is charged at the full yearly rate).

Student Application Fee

Once you have paid the IHS you will be directed to the application fee page where you will see three options for making your application, Standard, Priority and Super-priority. The current Student application fees in the UK are:

• £475 for a standard application
• £975 for a priority service application
• £1,275 for a super-priority (formerly premium) application

When you have paid the application fee, you will be directed to stage 6 where you can download the Document Checklist. You should save a copy of this document as you will need to provide it if you are asked for proof that you have made the application.

9. Complete your application

10. Home Office's decision on your application

If your application is successful, the Home Office will send you a letter to confirm this by email.

If you are an EEA or Swiss national the Home Office will grant you 'secure digital status' to confirm you have immigration permission as a Student; you will not be issued a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

If you are a non-EEA national the Home Office will issue you a new Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and send it to you by courier. You should receive it within seven working days of receiving the letter. Check your BRP and if there are any mistakes e.g. with your name, date of birth, or the expiry date, please contact us so we can advise you on how to request that the Home Office amends them.

If your application is refused you will be sent a letter explaining the reasons why. If this is the case please send a copy of the refusal letter to the International Student Advisers (visas@brighton.ac.uk) as soon as possible so that we can advise you on what your options are. You should also send a copy of your refusal letter to casenquiries@brighton.ac.uk.

11. If your dependants are applying with you

If your dependants are already with you in the UK and have PBS Dependent visas and they are applying at the same time as you to extend their visas, you should read the information at the link below about the requirements they will need to meet to obtain further leave to remain.

• UKCISA – your family’s immigration

Each of your dependants will need to be included in your online application and have to pay the application fee, the IHS and any additional fees for their appointment if applicable. If you and your dependant(s) meet the requirements of the finance exemption i.e. all of you have lived in the UK for more than 12 months with valid permission, and you will be making your applications together, you and your dependants will not need to show evidence of funds. If, however, you and your dependants are not exempt the finance requirement – the amount of money you will need to show you have – will be much higher if you are applying with your dependants and so you need to make sure this money is available for 28 continuous days before you make the application. If you are financially sponsored by your government, or an international agency, your financial sponsorship letter must include the details of all of your dependants who will be applying with you.

If your dependants are already in the UK, but you are not sure whether you can include them in your current application, or you would like further advice about the requirements and how to apply, please complete the online visa enquiry form.

12. Further information and advice

This guidance only covers the main aspects of making a Student visa application in the UK and is general in nature. If you wish to make a successful application it is important that you, or a parent, read and understand the documents and web pages below.

In our experience, Student applications are most commonly refused because the applicants do not read or understand the guidance, and therefore either do not have sufficient funds for the required amount of time, or do not provide the correct documents.

• Home Office: Student - how to apply from inside the UK
• Home Office: Student policy guidance
• UKCISA: Making a Student application in the UK

If having read this guidance, and the documents above, you have a question about making a Student application in the UK then please contact us using the visa enquiry form.

This guidance is for the sole use of University of Brighton applicants and students. It is a guide only and must be used in conjunction with the Home Office Policy Guidance and all other webpages it makes reference to. The information in this guidance is given in good faith and has been carefully checked. However, the University of Brighton accepts no legal responsibility for its accuracy.