Student Route visa: within the UK

Guidance notes

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

If you're an applicant to the university

If you require a Student visa to study with us, before you can apply for your visa you must have a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number to submit as part of your application.

A CAS is a unique reference number that is 14 digits long that is given to you by the University of Brighton. It confirms to the Home Office that you have accepted an unconditional offer and met the Home Office requirements regarding length of study in the UK and academic progression.

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 decide 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. This means 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 (or your current university has confirmed you are 'highly-likely' to complete) 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, 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. 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. 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. To complete a PhD for which you were last given a Student visa; or
4. 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. 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 to complete your course. You will have to leave the UK and make the Student application from your home country. This includes if you have changed courses since your last visa was issued and as a result 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 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 issues by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to students who wish to study certain courses in the UK.

The ATAS-required courses are mainly at PhD and MRes level, but there are several masters degrees that also require an ATAS certificate.

If you are not sure whether you require an ATAS certificate, please read the guidance on the government website.

Please note, if you are a national of one of the below countries, you will not require an ATAS certificate, even if your course is ATAS-required.

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

Applying for an ATAS certificate

If you are a national of a country that is not listed, your offer letter will tell you whether your course requires an ATAS certificate, and this will also be confirmed on your CAS. 

If you require an ATAS certificate you should apply for this online. It can take the FCDO some time to issue an ATAS certificate, so you must make your ATAS application as soon as you can.

When your ATAS clearance certificate is issued, it is valid for six months to use in a Student visa application. Once you have used it in your application it gives you security clearance for the whole proposed period of study on your CAS. You will not need to apply again unless your original course end date is delayed or postponed by more than three months, or your course contents or research proposal change. 

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

If you are 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. another 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 are already a student and need to complete the course you have 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 10 October, you must meet the requirements of the application, complete the application form online and pay for your application at the very latest on 10 October.

Important: Information for applicants and existing students

Make sure that your application is valid

The immigration rules state that to make a valid application, you must meet all of the requirements below. If you meet these requirements the UKVI will consider if your 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 as part of the application
• 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 often 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’ eg 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 'good reason' 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. 

If your visa has already expired please contact us urgently using online enquiry form and we can advise you on your next steps.

5. Are you exempt from having to meet the 'finance requirement' of the application? If you are not exempt, calculate the amount of 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, 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. Please skip the rest of this section and go to section 7.

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 your tuition fees and living costs (at least £1,136 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 your tuition fees, or all of your living costs (less than £1,136 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, you are 'self-funding':

You will need to prove to the Home Office that you have an amount of money that is equal to or more than the sum of:

• your outstanding tuition fees
• plus £1,136 per month of your course for your living costs, up to a maximum of £10,224.

For example, if your tuition fees are £15,000 and your course is for three years you will need to have at least £25,224 (£15,000 plus £10,224) to meet the finance requirement of your application. 

The funds will need to be in your name, a parent’s name or if applicable, your partner's name, but only if they are applying at the same time as you or already have immigration permission for the UK.

If your funds are in a currency other than pounds sterling (GBP)

You will need to use the OANDA website to convert them into pounds sterling (GBP). If your currency does not feature on OANDA, you will need to use the FCDO's exchange rates.

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 required to guard against a 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 £5,000, then you will need to have at least £20,224 (£10,000 for fees plus £10,224 for living costs).

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 £1,483.

For example, even if you have paid £4,000 towards your halls of residence you can only reduce the living costs you require by £1,483 from £10,224 to £8,741 (£10,224 less £1,483).

Updating your CAS with a fee payment

Any payments for tuition fees or halls of residence you make before the date of the visa application must be shown on your CAS to be considered. To update your CAS please follow our updating CAS number with fee payments guidance.

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 remain in the UK with you and they are not exempt from the finance requirements, because they have been living in the UK for less than 12 months before the date of the application, the amount of money you will require is much higher. Please see section 10.

Using the funds after you apply for the visa

You should note that you are required to keep the required funds in your account until the date on which UKVI makes its decision on your application. The balance can be lower than it was on the date of application but only if you have used the funds for tuition fees, an accommodation deposit or other costs related to studying in the UK.

It is rare for UKVI to request bank statements on the date of decision but if they do you will need to show you have the same funds as on the date of application, or if the balance is lower, that you have used the funds as described above.

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

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

1. Hold the required amount of money for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of the visa application, and
2. Hold 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. 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 bank 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/investments 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 that 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). It is the date of application that is relevant in terms of meeting the requirements of the application in particular the finance requirement if you are not exempt.

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 upload either the originals or copies of the documents, but you must provide the original version of your passport when you scan it as part of providing your biometrics using the 'UK Immigration: ID Check' app. 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 scan and upload 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.

If you are NOT exempt from the ‘finance requirement’ (because you have not lived in the UK for 12 months before the date of the application) you 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 Financial 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 (SAR); 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 and pay the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

In order to make your application you will need to complete an online application form. You do this by clicking the 'Start now' button at the bottom of this Home Office webpage. You will note that as part of the application, you will provide your biometrics (a photo of your face and a scan of your passport) using the 'UK Immigration: ID Check' App which you can access at the relevant stage of the online application process.

We are aware that some visa applicants are experiencing problems when using the ‘UK Immigration ID App’. The Home Office are aware about this problem and trying to remedy it. If it happens in your application, please do not worry, however, you must make your application before your new course end date or visa expiry date, whichever comes sooner.

To make the visa application, if you cannot use the ID App, you will need to start another application form and at the beginning when it asks ‘Do you have a BRP’ answer ‘No’ or when it asks ‘Do you have a mobile phone’ answer ‘No’. This will allow you to provide your biometrics in person without using the ID App but at a UK Visa & Citizen Application Services centre (UKVCAS), which are run by a company called TLS.

Once you have submitted your visa application form and paid the application fee and IHS, you will be directed to the TLS website to book your appointment. The nearest centre is in East Croydon. The next available free-of-charge appointment may not be for several weeks. However, please note that provided you make the visa application (submit the online application form and pay the application fee and IHS) before your new course end date or the expiry of your visa (whichever is sooner) the date of the appointment does not have to be before the expiry of your visa.

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 options on the UKCISA website.

You will note that the Home Office aims to process a Standard application within eight weeks; a Priority application within five working days and a Super-priority application the next working day. 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 an International Student Adviser check your documents and application form and advise you on whether your application meets the requirements, please complete the application form but do not submit it by paying the fee: save your application and logout. If you pay for the application we cannot change any of the answers you have provided.

If you would like us to check your application, please contact us in the first instance using the visa enquiry form.

Immigration Health Surcharge

If you do not wish to have your application checked, please note that once you have completed the application form and provided your biometrics 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 currently £776 per person for each year you will be granted immigration permission to be in the UK, and £388 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:

• £524 for a standard application
• £1,024 for a priority service application
• £1,524 for a super-priority application

When you have paid the application fee, you will be able to upload the documents that you are required to provide as part of the application. Once you have applied you should save a copy of this application form as a pdf as you will need to provide it if you are asked for proof that you have made the application.

Travel while your application is processed

Important: even though you will have possession of your passport while the Home Office processes your application, you must not travel out of the UK while your application is outstanding. This is because if you leave the UK while you have an outstanding visa application, the Home Office will automatically withdraw your application that will have the effect of you not having made the application. If your previous visa has already expired when you leave the UK, you will not have a valid visa and be unable to re-enter the UK without having applied for and obtaining a Student visa in your country of residence. Therefore, you must not travel out of the UK until you receive a decision on your application and receive your BRP (if applicable). If you do need to travel due to a family emergency or other very urgent matter please contact us for advice.

9. 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. You will only receive an eVisa. You will not receive a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

If you do not have a UKVI account already, you will need to create one so you can view your eVisa. UKVI has created a video to explain the process.

If you find a mistake on your eVisa, that relates to the start and end dates of the visa; the work conditions; the sponsor licence number or your dependant’s visa, please email visas@brighton.ac.uk so we can report it to the Home Office for you. When emailing us, you will need to attach a copy of your eVisa and your visa application form.

There is a lot more information on eVisas provided by UKCISA and the Home Office, including a video. Once you have read these, if you still have a query, please contact us using the ‘Ask us a question about visas’ form on this page.

Visa refusal

If your visa 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 by email to the International Student Advice team (visas@brighton.ac.uk) as soon as possible so we can advise you on what your options are. You should also send a copy of the refusal letter by email to our Visa Compliance team (casenquiries@brighton.ac.uk).

10. If your dependants are applying with you

If your dependants are already living with you in the UK and hold 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 apply successfully.

• UKCISA – your family’s immigration

11. 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, the most common reason why Student applications are refused is because the applicants do not read or understand the guidance, and therefore either do not have sufficient funds for the required amount of time.

• Home Office: Student - how to apply from inside the UK
• Home Office: Student casework guidance
• Home Office: Finance casework guidance
• UKCISA: Student route: applying in the UK

If having read this guidance and the documents above, you have a question about making a Student application in the UK, 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 casework guidance and all the other webpages it refers 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.