Apply for a Student visa to study in the UK for six months or more

Receiving your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (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 all tasks and the following steps to receive your pre-CAS checklist before the University issues you with a CAS.

1. Hold an unconditional offer of entry to your chosen course
2. Firmly accepted your offer
3. Completed the Previous Study in the UK form
4. 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 UK Visa Immigration (UKVI) requirement)
5. 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
• Stipend towards living expenses

6. if you have been allocated University of Dundee accommodation, you will need to pay a minimum of £1000 deposit to secure your accommodation. This will be shown on your CAS and will be discounted from the Maintenance requirements by the UKVI for living expenses which is currently £9,207
7. If you are applying for a Research programme which requires an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS )clearance the University will provide you at offer stage a CAH 3 code and statement for you to apply for this clearance certificate via the Foreign commonwealth office before a CAS is issued.  Check if you need an ATAS certificate.

Once we have received the above we will email you a pre-CAS checklist before we issue your CAS.

Your pre-CAS checklist

To avoid a CAS student visa refusal, we use a pre-CAS checklist to make sure all the information is correct before applying to UKVI.

1. 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.
2. Return the pre-CAS checklist, with any corrections.
3. We will then apply to UKVI for your CAS number and will email you once it is confirmed 

Due to a number of visa refusals related to incorrect bank statements and/or credibility interviews, we do ask a selection of applicants to undertake extra pre-CAS checks before issuing a CAS checklist, these include:

• Applicants submitting copies of the relevant bank statements they will be using in their student visa application, these have to be within the required 28 day period.   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. 
• We will also conduct mandatory pre-CAS credibility assessment/interviews.  We use these to assess your intent to study, clarify questions about your previous immigration history, or address any other concerns about the success of your Student Visa application.  If your interview suggests that you are not a genuine student or your risk of visa refusal is exceptionally  high, we do reserve the right to refuse your CAS.

Applying for your Student visa

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.

You can apply for your visa:

• 6 months before start date of your course if applying from outside the UK
• 3 months before start date of your course if applying from inside the UK

Do not book any travel to the UK until you have been notified that your student visa was granted and are in receipt of your student visa travel vignette. 

It is your responsibility to check the GOV.UK Visa and Immigration website prior to applying for your student visa as there maybe changes relating to the funds required.  

You may also need to provide:

• CAS number issued by the University
• original qualification documents as listed on the CAS 
  
  • if these are not in English, you will also need an official translation
• English language – provide details if you have a UKVI approved SELT test
• a valid ATAS certificate if your course and nationality require it
• your tuberculosis test results
• proof of parental consent, and proof of relationship to your parent or guardian if you are under 18
• Bank Statements – see required funds for required information
• Official sponsorship letter – see required funds for required  information 

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.

Required funds

If you are not being officially sponsored you will be required to provide bank statements to prove you have the following amounts 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.

• Balance of first year tuition fees
• You will be need to show maintenance of £1,023 for each month required for study, up to a maximum of nine months total required £9,207
• A maximum of £1,334 paid for university accommodation may be used towards evidence of maintenance

If you cannot show the required funds in your bank account, you can ask you 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 from parents, and original birth certificate (all translated into English). Or your spouse bank statements if your spouse is in the UK or are applying for a dependant visa to travel with you.

• OR uploaded a scanned copy of your official sponsorship letter showing how your tuition fees will be paid by your sponsor ensure that your sponsor letter confirms:
  
  • Name of institution you will be attending
  • Name of the programme you will be undertaking including any Pre-Sessional English
  • Start date and length of programme
  • The amount of tuition fees that will be covered
  • The annual stipend to cover living costs must be more than £9,207 to meet UKVI requirements

Dependants

For courses that start on or after 1 January 2024, you are only allowed to bring dependants if:

• you are studying a full-time PhD or Master's by Research programme (duration 9 months or longer)
• you are financially sponsored by either the UK or a National Overseas Government (Tuition fees and living expenses)

Research programmes available can be found on our Postgraduate research page.