If you are a new student to the University or you have completed a course with us and you are applying for a visa to start a new course, you can make your next student visa application in the UK,  as long as you meet all of the following:

• The gap between the end of your current leave and the start of your new course (as stated on your CAS) is no more than 28 days. If it is longer than 28 days, you will need to leave the UK and apply for entry clearance. The only exception to this is if your course started before 31 December 2020 and you meet any of the GOV.UK - coronavirus concessions
• You are making your visa application no more than 3 months before the start date on your Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies.
• You do not have permission as any of the following:
  • as a Visitor; or
  • as a Short-term Student; or
  • as a Parent of a Child Student; or
  • as a Seasonal Worker; or
  • as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household; or
  • outside the Immigration Rules

Money can be shown in either an account in your name or your parent(s) name only.

The rules generally no longer set out specific format requirements for most documents. However, it will help the caseworker assess if a piece of evidence is genuine and if it provides the information they need to be satisfied the requirement is met. Therefore, we recommend your documents include the information demonstrated in our sample financial documents page.

Please see our sample financial documents [PDF] for examples of what you will need to provide.

How long do I need to maintain the money for?

The relevant funds must be maintained for a consistent 28 day period. The last date on the statement must not be more than 31 days old from the date of application. The money must continue to be available in your account, even after the application is made. If you provide evidence of funds at a later date, the caseworker will not consider a closing balance later than the date of application.

What if my funds are in a different currency?

Please ensure that your financial evidence states clearly the currency of your funds. You should use the OANDA currency converter to convert the money, and should you wish, you can provide a print out with your application. The conversion date which the Home office will use will be the date of application.

Do UKVI accept bank statements from any bank account?

The financial institution must meet following criteria:

• The financial institution which you will use in your visa application, must be regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which the institution is operating
• The financial institution should also be one that maintains electronic record keeping
• UKVI should be able to make satisfactory verification checks with the bank. For this purpose you should ensure that accurate contact details are on the financial evidence which you submit
• The Funds must be accessible at any time

About evidence of official financial sponsorship

An official financial sponsor is her Majesty’s Government, the applicant’s national government, the British Council or any international organisation, international company, university or Independent School.

If your official financial sponsor is University of Bedfordshire, you do not need a letter if the details of your financial sponsorship are on your CAS.

Please note that sponsorships by family or relatives are not considered as ‘official financial sponsorship’. If the official financial sponsor is an international company, the best way to evidence this is to show print outs from website, or a letter including the web-link which shows contact details for offices in more than one country. The official financial sponsor will also need to provide a letter confirming the details. Please refer to the latest immigration rules  GOV.UK - Appendix Finance FIN 9.1

The letter should be on official letter-headed paper or stationery of the organisation of the official financial sponsor which must have the official stamp of that organisation on it. The letter can be a printout but you should also keep the original to submit if UKVI request it.

The letter should show:

• your name
• the name and contact details of your official financial sponsor
• the date of the letter
• the length of your sponsorship; and
• the amount of money the sponsor is giving to you or a statement that your official financial sponsor will cover all of your fees and living costs

Evidence of official financial sponsor’s consent to complete studies

If you are currently financially sponsored by a government or an international scholarship agency or your financial sponsorship ended within 12 months of your application being made, you will need your sponsor’s permission to stay in or re-enter the UK. You must provide the Home Office with your financial sponsor’s unconditional consent in writing. This must confirm that your sponsor has no objection to you continuing your studies in the UK.

About evidence of official financial sponsorship

If your financial sponsor is only covering some of your course fees or living costs, you must show that you have the rest of the money needed in your account - Please see our sample financial documents for examples [PDF]

Evidence of Loan from a financial institution

If you are relying on a student loan, you must show evidence of the student loan by providing a student loan letter from the lender. The letter must be:

1. Dated no more than 6 months before the date of application; and
2. Confirm the loan is a student loan provided to the applicant by either the relevant government or a government sponsored student loan company or an academic or educational loans scheme; and
3. Confirm there are no conditions on release of the loan funds other than a successful application to study in the UK as a Student or Child Student; and
4. Confirm the amount of the loan; and
5. Confirm the loan is to the applicant; and
6. Confirm the funds will be:
   1. (i) available to the applicant before they travel to the UK; or
   2. (ii) paid directly to the student sponsor before the applicant travels to the UK, with any living cost portion of the loan being made available to the applicant by the time they arrive in the UK; or
   3. (iii) available before the applicant begins their course if the loan is provided by the applicant’s national government; and
7. Confirm the lender meets the requirements in GOV.UK - Appendix Finance 8.3 and 5.1

Can I use funds maintained by my parents?

If you are planning to submit your parents bank statements as per GOV.UK - Appendix Finance 5.3

The statements must meet the requirements set out in How to evidence money required [PDF]

In addition, you must show that you are related to them and must provide one of the following:

1. Your birth certificate showing the names of your parent(s)/legal guardian(s); or
2. Your certificate of adoption showing names of both parent(s) or legal guardian(s); or
3. A Court document naming your legal guardian(s). The document use must be the original legal document or a notarised copy.

You must also show that your parent(s)/legal guardian have given their permission for you to use this money. You must provide: a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s). The letter must confirm:

• the relationship between you and your parent(s) or legal guardian(s);
  and
• that your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have given their consent to you using their funds to study in the UK

For more information please see page 49 of the Student and Child student guidance 01 December 2020 (Guidance for UKVI caseworkers) [PDF]

Can I Use Certificate of Deposit

Certificates of deposit are not listed as acceptable evidence in the Immigration Rules but the Home Office's Student and Child Student guidance [PDF] page 45 confirms that a certificate of deposit is accepted if it meets the following requirements:

• the certificate of deposit must have been issued by a bank that confirms that an individual has deposited or invested a sum of money
• the funds have been held for the required 28 day period
• the applicant can access the funds at any time

Any documents which are not in English must be accompanied by a fully certified translation by a professional translator/translation company. This translation must include:

• details of the translator/translation company’s credentials;
• confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document
• translator/translation company’s contact details.
• must also be dated and include the original signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company.

Nationals of some countries do not need to submit evidence of their qualifications or that they satisfy the financial requirements with their applications. The Home Office calls this the 'differentiation arrangements' for 'low-risk applicants'.

You are a 'low-risk' applicant if you are applying for visa under the student route and you are:

1. Holder of a passport which shows you are registered as a British National (Overseas), or which was issued by authorities of Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR or Taiwan (which includes the number of the identification card issued by Taiwan);
   or
2. You are a national of any of the following: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, The Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United States of America

It is very important that as a low-risk applicant you still obtain the evidence of your qualifications and your money, even though you do not need to send them. This is because the Home Office will sometimes ask a low risk national to send them the documentary evidence. Failure to provide the evidence within a specified timeframe when requested by the Home Office will result in your application being refused.

Please note, the Immigration Rules state that all students, including low-risk applicants, must submit evidence of their English language ability with their application (if appropriate).

New students/Students starting a new course – Should apply for the course 3 months before the course start date. Once a conditional offer letter is issued you will be instructed of the next steps and what requirements you need to meet to obtain the CAS. If the course is due to start soon and you still wish to join, you can discuss your options with our International Admissions team. You can find the team details here

Continuing Students – You will need to apply for your CAS 8 weeks before your visa expiry date. If you think you need to apply earlier, please email visaadvice@beds.ac.uk. Please see the time frame for obtaining a CAS letter for continuing students – This gives details of the time it takes to process a CAS.

New students or Students starting a new course – Whether you are a new student to the University or have completed your last course with us and are starting a new one, you need to continue liaising with the International Admissions Team.

Continuing Students: Complete and submit the CAS application form online

If you need a Student visa to complete your existing course with us, you will need to submit a CAS Request. 

Due to strict Immigration Rules, the CAS assessment is a very stringent process. Below are some of the main things that are considered during the CAS assessment process.

Time Limit Cap on studying in the UK

The time limit now applies only to students on courses at or below degree level. The University will not issue a CAS to an applicant or student who has exceeded or will exceed by the end of their new visa the amount of time they are allowed on a student visa as per the Immigration Rules. This is why we require everyone applying for a CAS to provide full details of their UK immigration history. The Home Office will already have this information on their system. It is important we know what your record with UKVI reflects so that we can ensure, by issuing a CAS you are unlikely to be refused a visa.

View detailed information about the Time Limit Cap - Appendix ST 19.1

Academic Progression

For continuing students who need a visa extension to complete their existing course - in order to establish if you are satisfactorily progressing on your course we will need to consider the following:

• Results for your units so far
• Any Course transfers
• Overall qualification
• Any non-attempts at any assignment or exam (G Grades)
• Your attendance so far on the course – this is very important, poor attendance could mean that your CAS application is refused.
• Any mitigating circumstances
• Any academic appeals
• Any academic concerns/suspected plagiarism
• Any breach of study conditions or visa conditions
• Any other issue we think may have hindered your progress

For new students or students starting a new course having completed their last course with us, the requirements you need to meet for academic progression will be different.

Credibility Interview

If we feel necessary, International Office will conduct an interview with you as part of the CAS assessment process. Your performance in this interview will be a deciding factor of your CAS application. It will also help you prepare for the interview you are expected to attend if invited to do so by UKVI as part of your actual visa application.

Bank statements and other documents

If you do not meet the exemption for the financial requirement, you will need to provide a copy of the bank document you intend to submit with your visa application so that we can assess them as part of the CAS assessment process. In this instance, a CAS will only be issued, if we can see that there are no obvious reasons the documents will lead to a visa refusal if they are submitted as part of your visa application.

If you are concerned that you may be affected by any of the points mentioned above, you can email visaadvice@beds.ac.uk an International Student Advisor will be able to help.

Please note, every CAS request will be assessed individually on a case by case basis. If we feel that there are any other factors which may affect your ability to follow your course of study, or you have breached any university or UKVI regulations, the university reserves the right to refuse you a CAS.

Below are the steps involved in applying for your permission to stay in the UK. It does not contain detailed information about the Student Route requirements, and it is only intended as an overview.

Step 1
Collect documents you need to support your Student Visa Route application including your CAS, passport and BRP. You will need information on these documents to complete the online form. Also, please have ready the bank card you intend to pay for the IHS surcharge and UKVI application fee.

Step 2
STUDENT ROUTE APPLICATION FORM

Go to GOV.UK - extend your visa click start now at the bottom of the page to start the online application with UKVI.

EEA NATIONALS with a chipped passport can make the application using the ID CHECK APP. More information at GOV.UK - guidance on using the ID check App

Step 3
Once you have completed filling out all the answers, double check your answers. Pay the application fee, pay the immigration health surcharge and follow instructions about submitting your biometric information.

Step 4
You will be directed to the Sopra Steria website where you can upload your documents.

Step 5
Once you have completed the application with UKVI, Submit documents confirming you have made the application to visamonitoring@beds.ac.uk

You will be advised of the documents you need to provide to us when you are issued the CAS.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE

As you will be able to keep your passport whilst your application is being decided by UKVI – if you travel outside the UK, your application will be treated as being withdrawn. This would mean you may not be able to complete your studies and you will need to make a new application before returning to the UK. We may need to assess you again to see if you qualify for a new CAS. There is no guarantee of a new CAS. All travel should therefore be avoided. If due to an emergency you need to travel at short notice, while your application is still pending at the Home Office, you should email visaadvice@beds.ac.uk to discuss your options.

For a while UKVI have not been conducting credibility interview for students making student route applications in the UK. However, this can change at any time with no notice.

Therefore If you are contacted by UKVI inviting you to an interview, please email a copy of the interview invitation communication you receive to visaadvice@beds.ac.uk without delay.

An International Student Advisor will contact you to discuss this and provide some guidance.

A refused application

Your visa application can be refused if you fail to meet the immigration requirements. For example, if you have not demonstrated that you have maintained the required level of funds (if applicable to you), or if you submit a document which does not meet the policy guidance requirements.

In order to advise you, we would need to see a copy of the refusal notice. As soon as you receive a refusal you should send your refusal notice to visamonitoring@beds.ac.uk Please make sure you provide your name and student number in the subject heading of the email.

Whether you are a new or continuing student of University of Bedfordshire you should urgently seek immigration advice from us by emailing visaadvice@beds.ac.uk

We can then make a phone or skype appointment with you to discuss it in detail and look at your options.

Administrative Review

An administrative review is a review of the application you submitted by a different Home Office official, usually no new evidence can be submitted in support of an administrative review so this is only likely to be successful if you believe you submitted all the correct documentation but the Home Office made a mistake in refusing you a visa. You must submit this before the deadline stated on the refusal notice in order for your stay in the UK to continue to be legal. If you are covered by Section 3C leave, your stay in the UK will be legal until an Administrative Review decision is made.

If you made an in-time application, i.e. your visa was still valid on the date of application, then you may still have legal status by virtue of Section 3C. In order for Section 3C leave to continue you would need to submit an Administrative Review within the timeframe stated on your refusal notice.

If your initial application was made after your visa expired, you will have no legal rights to remain in the UK, however you are still allowed to submit an administrative review. In this instance please note that your time as an overstayer in the UK will start counting from the date your visa expired.

Penalties for overstaying in the UK

Overstaying is a criminal offence. If you overstay, you will need to be removed from university register. This will jeopardise your studies.

If you overstay in the UK by more than 30 days, you may be prohibited from returning to the UK for at least 12 months from the date you leave the UK. Overstaying could also affect your entry to other countries. In future immigration applications, you will also need to declare any periods of overstaying. If you are found to be deceptive, you can be barred from the UK for 10 years.

If you find yourself in this situation, it is highly advisable that, you contact us by emailing visaadvice@beds.ac.uk

An International Student Advisor will then make a phone or skype appointment with you to discuss this in detail.

A rejected (invalid) application

In order for your application to be accepted by UKVI, it must meet the following:

• Be made on the correct form with all mandatory sections completed.
• Include the correct fee and Immigration Health Charge.
• Provide required Biometrics.
• Provide passport or travel document; and
• Provide Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies reference number (CAS),
• Provide a letter from your official financial sponsor (if applicable).
• Ensure that your current visa allows you to switch into the Student Route visa in the UK.
• Must be at least 16 years old on the date of application.

An application which does not meet all the validity requirements for a Student, is invalid and may be rejected and not considered.

Where an application is deemed invalid it will be returned unprocessed with an accompanying letter confirming that you have made an invalid application. It will be as if an application had never been made and, if your visa has already expired, this has serious implications for your immigration status and record.

If your application is returned invalid you should email visaadvice@beds.ac.uk

An International Student Advisor can provide you with specific advice on your options (in particular whether to re-apply from within the UK or to leave and apply for entry clearance) this can differ depending upon the expiry date of your visa and whether this has already passed. It is very important that you are fully-aware of all the options available to you and implications of your decision on how to proceed.

Any refusals and rejections of your visa may have consequences on your registration at the University, therefore it is very important you discuss your case with an International Student Advisor as soon as possible.

Now that you have your visa, there are a few more checks you should make, to ensure there are no mistakes on your visa.

Please check our section about protecting your visa in particular look out for information about:

• How much leave you should be granted under the Student Route
• Have you updated the International Office with the new visa decision and documents

Detailed information as regards whether or not your dependants can apply with you is available at UKCISA - Dependants