Guide
Apply for a Student visa to study in the UK for six months or more
Updated on 9 May 2023
If you are coming to the UK to study a course that lasts longer than six months, you are likely to need a Student visa. You will be able to apply for this after you receive your CAS.
The University holds a student sponsor licence which allows it to sponsor eligible students for a Student visa. For visa sponsorship, your visit to us must be for the purpose of study or research that is part of your overseas qualification. This qualification must be at the same level as, or above, a UK degree. If you are not a registered student at another institution, visa sponsorship cannot be provided.
Certain courses will require you to obtain Academic Technology Approval Scheme clearance from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) before a CAS can be issued for your student visa application. The requirement for ATAS clearance is determined by the CAH3 code of the course. Students who hold an EEA nationality or one of the following nationalities are exempt from this requirement: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland. An ATAS application has a processing time of 20 working days and a CAS cannot be issued until the FCDO have issued your certificate.
You can check on the UK Government website which type of visa you require.
You need to answer three questions and will be told which type of visa you need, plus any additional requirements.
You need to apply for a Student visa in the country you are ordinarily resident in before you travel. This may be your home country or the country you are living in for work or study purposes.
You cannot apply from a country that you are only visiting - for example if you have a visitor or tourist visa.
If you are a national of an EU/EEA country, or Switzerland, and you came to the UK before 31 December 2020, you do not need a visa, if you applied for the EU Settlement Scheme before 30 June 2021.
If you came to the UK after 31 December 2020, you will need to apply for a visa to study in the UK.
Irish citizens do not need to apply for settled status.
When should I apply for my visa?
You can apply for your visa up to six months before the start date of your course.
However, before you can apply you need:
- your CAS from the University of Dundee
- this will normally be issued three to four months before your course start date
- proof that you have enough money to support yourself and pay for your course - this will vary depending on your circumstances
- if you need to show bank statements, you will need to have the money in the appropriate account for 28 days before you submit your application
Receiving your CAS
There is a checklist in Applicant Portal in eVision that shows if you have any tasks still to complete. You need to have completed the following steps to receive your CAS.
- Hold an unconditional offer of entry to your chosen course
- Firmly accepted your offer
- Completed the Previous Study in the UK form
- Uploaded copy of passport
- for CAS we must use the name as stated on your passport
- if you have one name this will be listed under Surname (this is a UKVI requirement)
- Proof of finance for tuition fees. This means either:
- you have paid your advance payment amount and uploaded a copy of your receipt to your applicant portal (see Advance payment of tuition fees for international fee status)
- OR uploaded a scanned copy of your official sponsorship letter showing how your tuition fees will be paid by your sponsor
You should ensure that your sponsor letter confirms:
- Name of the institution you will be attending
- Name of the course you will be undertaking including any Pre-Sessional English
- Start date and length of course
- The amount of fees that will be covered
- if you have been allocated University of Dundee accommodation, you will need to pay a minimum of £300 deposit to secure your accommodation. However if you pay a minimum of £1,334 then we can demonstrate this on your CAS.
Once we have received the above we will email you a pre-CAS checklist before we issue your CAS.
Due to an unusually high number of visa refusals related to incorrect bank statements we are asking a random selection of applicants to submit copies of the bank statements they will be using in their visa application.
The University is not verifying with your bank or verifying that they will be accepted by UKVI. We are only checking to see if the funds you hold and the type of bank or account you have meet with current UKVI requirements. UKVI will undertake their own verification and assessment of your ability to meet the tuition fee and maintenance requirements.
Your pre-CAS checklist and study on campus form
To avoid a CAS refusal, we use a pre-CAS checklist to make sure all the information is correct before applying to UKVI.
- Check and confirm all the details in the pre-CAS checklist are correct.
It is your responsibility to check and confirm details are correct and, if there is an error, to provide us with correct details. - Return the pre-CAS checklist, with any corrections.
Once you submit the pre-CAS checklist, you will then receive a study on campus form (this is an extra step due to Covid-19)
- Complete and submit the study on campus form within Applicant Portal in eVision
- We will then apply to UKVI for your CAS number and will email you once it is confirmed / rejected
Applying for your Student visa
You may also need to provide:
- a valid ATAS certificate if your course and nationality require it
- your tuberculosis test results
- qualification documents listed on the CAS
- if these are not in English, you will also need an official translation
- proof of parental consent, and proof of relationship to your parent or guardian if you are under 18
- proof you have enough money to support yourself and pay for your course - this will vary depending on your circumstances
- written consent for your application from your financial sponsor if you’ve received sponsorship for your course fees and living costs in the last 12 months
Depending on your nationality or course, there may be other documents you need. A full list and details about these documents are available at gov.uk.
English Language requirements
You must prove you can read, write, speak and understand English CEFR level B2 (IELTS 5.5) to be able to apply for a Student visa for a degree-level course.
All University of Dundee courses have an entry requirement higher than this.
If you are from, or have completed an equivalent of a UK degree in certain countries, you may not need to prove your knowledge of English.
- Find out the full details of English Language requirements for the University of Dundee
Showing required funds
Funds must be shown in a bank account in your name for 28 consecutive (without any gaps) days, on the date you submit your online application, with closing balance dated no earlier than one month before the online application is submitted.
- You will be need to show maintenance of £1,023 for each month required for study, up to a maximum of nine months.
Therefore, if you are extending for nine months or more you should have £9,207 in your bank account.
- A maximum of £1,334 paid for university accommodation may be used towards evidence of maintenance.
- If you are to be accompanied by a dependant (spouse/children) you will need to show an additional £680 per dependant for each month (up to maximum of nine months) depending on the length of leave applied for.
If you cannot show the required funds in your bank account, you can ask your parent to post supporting documentation including an original bank statement held in your parent's name (held over 28 days), an original, signed supporting letter, and original birth certificate (all translated into English). If you have a spouse, and they are in the UK or are applying for a dependant visa to travel with you, you can provide an original bank statement in your spouse's name.
Please maintain the required funds in your bank account until you receive your new visa, as this will ensure funds are available if a re-submission of your application is required.
Differentiation arrangements
Under the differentiation arrangements, students of certain nationalities are not usually required to provide evidence they meet the financial requirements. However, applicants should still hold the required level of funds as UKVI reserve the right to request evidence of funds from these applicants.
Regardless of nationality, if you have lived in the UK for the past 12 months or more, you will be exempt from needing to show evidence of maintenance funds.
Financial evidence
All other nationals must provide bank statements as evidence of funds. The closing balance on the bank statement must be no more than one month prior to application, and show you have the required funds for no less than 28 consecutive days. If you cannot provide a bank statement in your name, you can provide a bank statement from your parent(s) – these must be accompanied by a supporting letter from your parent or spouse as well as your birth certificate (original) or spouse but your spouse must be either in the UK or applying for a dependant visa and travelling with you.
All documents must be in English, or accompanied by a certified translation.
If you have a financial sponsor
If you have a sponsor, such as your government, employer, or home university, you do not need to provide bank statements, but you must provide an original letter from your financial sponsor, confirming that they will provide you with the required funds during your studies.
Tuition fees
Your tuition fees are shown on your CAS. If you still have fees to pay at the time of your Student Visa application, you should show that you have this amount available in your bank account, in addition to the living costs as listed below.
If you have paid your fees in full after you received your CAS, please contact the International Advice Service so that we can arrange update this for you.
Examples of living costs
Main applicant:
UKVI have set the current maintenance/living costs at £1,023 per month of study, and this is used to calculate how much you must show in your account.
- you will be required to show maintenance of £1,023 for each month required for study, up to a maximum of £9,207 (this is the equivalent of £1,023 x 9 months)
- A maximum of £1,334 paid for university accommodation (not private accommodation), may be used towards evidence of maintenance.
Please maintain the required funds in your bank account until you receive your new visa, as this will ensure funds are available if a re-submission of your application is required.
Example 1:
If you are extending for 12 months and still have to pay £5,000 tuition fees, your bank statement must show £5,000 +
£9,207 = £14,207 for 28 days.
Example 2:
If you are extending for 2 years and still have to pay £5,000 tuition fees, and you have paid £3,000 to the University for your accommodation, your bank statement must show £5,000 + £9,207 - £1265 = £12,942 for 28 days
Dependants
UKVI have set the current maintenance for each dependant at £680 per month. If you are bringing dependants to live with you during your studies, you must show the above living costs for you as the main applicant, as well as an additional £680 per month per dependant up to a maximum of 9 months (depending on the length of leave applied for). For example:
- if applying for 4 months leave, dependants will be required to show maintenance/living costs of 8 months leave.
- if applying for 6 months leave, dependants will be required to show maintenance/living costs of 9 months leave.
Example 1:
If you are extending for 12 months you still have to pay £5,000 tuition fees, and you are bringing one dependant with you, your bank statement must show £5,000 + £9,207 + £6,120 = £20,327 for 28 days.
Example 2:
If you are extending for 7 months and have paid your tuition fees in full, and you are bringing three dependants with you, your bank statement must show £7,161 + (£6,120 x 3) = £25,521 for 28 days.
*Application fees used are correct at time of publishing. Current fee levels should be checked at Gov.uk
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