Apply for a Standard Visitor visa for short courses or Graduation

You may need a Standard Visitor visa for short courses (under six months), to undertake a viva, or to resit / repeat a module. You should also apply for one if your Student visa / Tier 4 visa has expired before your Graduation ceremony. You must apply from outside the UK

• If you are registered on a full-time course at University of Dundee that is more than six months in duration, you can no longer come to the UK on a visitor visa.
• If your course is fewer than six months in duration, for example if you are taking part in an exchange programme lasting up to six months, you can apply for a visitor visa.
• You cannot remain in the UK on a visitor visa for more than six months. Nor can you switch to another visa category in the UK or engage in employment.

Visiting to study

You can visit the UK for up to six months to:

• retake an exam or course module, or do a PhD oral exam (a viva)
• study at an accredited institution (this includes English language courses)
• do a short piece of research that’s relevant to your course internationally
• do an ‘elective’ - an optional additional placement, if you’re studying medicine, veterinary medicine and science, nursing, or dentistry. You must not treat patients.
• do an unpaid clinical attachment if you’re a graduate from a medical, dental, or nursing school

Distance learning courses

If you’re doing a distance learning course, your course can last longer than six months. This is because most of your study will happen outside of the UK. Students studying their course remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic are not considered “distance learners.”

• You can visit the UK to do certain activities as part of your course, for example:
• attend induction weeks
• do face-to-face intensive learning
• have progress checks
• sit exams or assessments

Visiting to attend Graduation

If your Student visa expires before Graduation

If your Tier 4 or Student visa expires before you graduate, you can choose to apply for a Visitor visa which is only obtainable from outside the UK.

When your course finishes, you should travel outside the UK to apply to return on a visitor visa for graduation. We do not advise that you overstay your leave in the UK at any time.

Email and eVision access

All students who are eligible to graduate have access to eVision and their @dundee.ac.uk email until the day of their graduation ceremony. You will be contacted through your Dundee email address so please check it regularly.

If you experience problems accessing your email or eVision accounts, contact UOD IT.

If you are not in your final year and wish to graduate with a non-honours award, you must ensure that you have informed your school office who will, in turn, inform the Registry to enable you to register and graduate this session. If you feel that you should have the link in your eVision account, but cannot see this, contact graduation@dundee.ac.uk

Graduation Registration

1. Graduation Registration - It is your responsibility to complete the registration process. You must register by logging into eVision and completing the graduation registration task. If you or your guests require disability access, you should check the Graduation web pages for the assistance request form.
2. Request a student status letter from our Graduation team. Please email graduation@dundee.ac.uk to receive this

When to apply

The earliest you can apply is three months before you travel.

Supporting documents you will need

You must provide certified translations of any documents that are not in English or Welsh. You’ll be told what other documents and information to provide when you apply online.

You’ll need to provide the following information:

• your passport or travel document. Your passport should be valid for the whole of your stay in the UK and contain a blank page for your visa. 
• the dates you’re planning to travel to the UK
• details of where you’ll be staying during your visit
• how much you think your trip will cost
• your current home address and how long you’ve lived there
• your parents’ names and dates of birth (if known)
• how much you earn in a year (if you have an income)
• details of any criminal, civil or immigration offences you may have committed.

If you’re visiting to study:

• If you’re visiting to do a short piece of research - you’ll need to provide confirmation from your international course provider that the research or research tuition is part of, or relevant to, the course you’re doing internationally.
• If you’re visiting to do an elective- your UK higher education provider will need to give written confirmation that you will not be treating patients or being paid for the elective.
• If you’re visiting to do an unpaid clinical attachment or dental observer post - You must provide written confirmation of your clinical attachment or dental observer post offer and confirmation that you’ve not done a clinical attachment or dental observer post in the UK before.

You can obtain a student status letter which confirms your course details and that you are a current student by using the online form from our Registry team.

For further details please see UKVI Guide to supporting documents and follow their guidance for your application.

Apply for your Visitor visa

You can apply online or at any British Embassy outside the UK which gives you permission to enter.