Immigration

• Your Unconditional Offer Letter confirms that all conditions have been met and your deposit has been received as cleared funds or that we have received and approved a letter from your financial sponsor.
• Your Unconditional Offer Letter states the year of entry of your course. Please note, your CAS number will be issued to cover the duration of your whole course, therefore you will apply for a visa that will cover the duration of your course. You do not need to re-apply for a new visa each year.
• A CAS is a unique UKVI (Home Office) reference number which confirms that Teesside University will be your Student Visa sponsor for the duration of your studies.
• Prior to assigning you with a CAS we will request additional information from you to enable us to undertake checks, similar to those of UKVI, which should support you with your Student Visa application and help you demonstrate you meet UKVI criteria and make a successful visa application. Further information on UKVI requirements.
• Following successful completion of all University checks your CAS will be normally be issued within 5 working days, but may take longer during peak periods.
• A CAS statement with your CAS number will be sent to you by email. Please note that you only require the electronic number for your visa application, not a copy of the CAS statement.
• Upon receipt of the CAS number you can then submit your Student Visa application. Please do not submit a Student Visa application without a CAS number.
• The CAS notification that we will send to you will list specific documents e.g. qualifications that you must include within your visa application in addition to the mandatory documents required. Please ensure that you include all original documents within your visa application. Failure to do so could result in a visa refusal. Further guidance on documents required to be included within your visa application.
• You can submit your Student Visa application up to six months before your course starts if you are applying from outside the UK and you can submit your Student Visa application up to three months before your course starts if you are applying from inside the UK.
• Please ensure that you have sufficient time to secure your visa and travel to the UK in time for the start of your course.
• Please read the UKVI Student Visa Policy Guidance and the University Student Visa Policy before you make your application.

UKVI Student Visa Policy Guidance

• Once you have been issued your Unconditional Offer Letter, the International Admissions and Compliance Team will begin to prepare to issue your CAS number. You need this CAS number before you can apply for Student visa.
• Checks are carried out prior to you being issued with your CAS number.
• Credibility checks: If you have not done so already, you must complete the mandatory questionnaire which has been sent to you by email when your original offer was made. The mandatory questionnaire is to help you prepare for your visa application should you be called to interview and to allow the International Admissions and Compliance Team to confirm they are happy with your intentions for coming to Teesside University to study.
• UKVI checks: If you have been sent an email asking you to complete a consent form please login to the applicant portal to provide consent as soon as possible. Before we are able to issue you with a CAS , we need your consent and to have completed the UKVI check. This will normally be completed within 5 working days, but may take longer during peak periods. The purpose of the check is to ensure that we are able to issue you with a CAS in accordance with the Student Visa rules if you have already studied in the UK before or applied for a UK visa before.
• Maintenance checks: If you are required by UKVI to demonstrate maintenance (evidence to show you have sufficient funds to cover your tuition fees and living costs) you will be required to provide this evidence to the International Admissions and Compliance Team before you will be issued with a CAS. We will only issue your CAS number once we are satisfied with the maintenance documents that you have provided to us. This is for us to determine that you have satisfactory evidence to submit to UKVI as part of your Student Visa application to demonstrate your funds and to mitigate the chance of your visa being refused.
• The International Admissions and Compliance Team may contact you whilst making the above checks to request further information or documents as necessary.
• Once all of the above pre-CAS checks are complete the International Admissions and Compliance Team will issue you with your CAS number, normally within 5 working days, but may take longer during peak periods.

If you are doing a course that is six months or longer, or a pre-sessional English course that is less than six months, you will be able to come to the UK up to one month before the start date of your course.

If you are doing a course that is less than six months and is not a course to prepare you for study, you will only be able to come to the UK up to seven days before the start date of your course.

Your course start date is the date given to you by your sponsor. This will be stated on your CAS

Type of Course	Period granted before course start date	Period granted after course end date
A course of 12 months or longer	1 Month	4 Months
A course of 6 months or longer but shorter than 12 months	1 Month	2 Months
A pre-sessional course of less than 6 months	1 Month	1 Month
A course as a Postgraduate doctor or dentist	1 Month	1 Month
A course of less than 6 months in length which is not a pre-sessional course	7 Days	7 Days

Your CAS will include the start and end dates of your course. A course will be considered to be 12 months long if it lasts a full calendar year.

When you receive your new visa, you should check that you have been granted the correct period of leave. If you have applied for your Student Visa overseas and you believe there is an error, please contact Teesside University's International Advice Service on international@tees.ac.uk.

We recommend wherever possible that you have any error corrected prior to travelling to the UK. However, if this is not possible the International Advice Service can assist you to have this corrected when you arrive in the UK.

The table below explains how much time a Student Route student can come to the UK for:

Type of course	Length of course	Length of stay allowed
Main course of Study (including Sabbatical Officers)	12 months or more	The full length of the course Plus Four months after the end of the course
	Six months or more, but less than 12 months	The full length of the course Plus Two months after the end of the course
	Less than six months	The full length of the course Plus Seven days after the end of the course
Pre-sessional courses	12 months or more	Six months or more, but less than 12 months
	Less than six months	The full length of the course Plus One month after the end of the course
Postgraduate doctors and dentists on a recognised Foundation programme		The full length of the course (up to a maximum of three years) Plus One month after the end of the course

Your CAS will include the start and end dates of your course. A course will be considered to be 12 months long if it lasts a full calendar year.

When you receive your new visa, you should check that you have been granted the correct period of leave. If you have applied for your Student Visa overseas and believe you have not received a visa for the correct duration of time, taking into account the information in the table above, please contact cas@tees.ac.uk.

You must check that all details on your CAS statement are correct and email CAS@tees.ac.uk if there are any issues before applying for your student visa.

You do not need to complete a mandatory questionnaire or provide maintenance if you're a British national overseas, or from one of the countries or territories specified on the 'Differential evidence requirement' list

If you are applying from outside the UK, you can apply online for a Student Visa. This category is for students coming to the UK for post-16 education with an unconditional offer of a place on a course with a licensed sponsor.

You must ensure you apply with enough time to arrive in the UK before your course begins and be available to attend the International Welcome and Orientation Programme for all new international and EU students.

Please note that you must not make your Student visa application more than six months before the start date of your course as specified on your CAS, before you are issued with a CAS from the International Compliance Team, or before you meet the other immigration requirements and you must have all of the required supporting documents in your possession.

You will usually get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks of attending your appointment at the visa application centre or 3 weeks of submitting your application if you are using the UK Immigration: ID Check app. Some countries offer a priority visa service for an additional fee. You will need to check your visa application centre website for information on available priority services in your country.

In most cases, you must complete the Student Visa application form online. You must first set up an account online and complete the application form in English.

You should enter the name of the country in which you are making your application and confirm that you are able to attend an appointment at one of the visa application centres listed. You will then be invited to begin the online application process.

• A valid CAS (please see your offer details for more information and check for any outstanding actions required on your Applicant Portal).
• A completed online application form.
• Your/ your dependants (if applicable) passport and any previous passports used to travel to the UK.
• Your/ your dependants (if applicable) BRP card/s and any previous BRP card/s.
• TB Certificate (if applicable)
• Financial documents that prove you have the required funds available to you. You will need to demonstrate maintenance for living costs PLUS any unpaid course tuition fees listed on your new CAS for the required period and in the required format. For more details see the 'Maintenance' section.
• A valid ATAS certificate (if applicable). Students applying for postgraduate study in certain sensitive subjects, knowledge of which could be used in programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery will need to apply for an ATAS certificate. You need to apply for this before you receive your CAS (if required) and you should allow at least 20 working days.
• If a document is not in English, you must provide a fully certified translation from a professional translator or translation company that can be independently verified by the Home Office.

The translation must include all of the following information:

• confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the document
• the date of translation
• the full name and signature of the translator or an official from the translation company
• the translator or translation company's contact details.

If you are applying with dependants, you may wish to contact the International Advice Service to seek further advice.

See also the UKVI Student Guidance.

You will need to be in a position to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for yourself and for any dependants. The Immigration Health Surcharge is currently £470.00 a year, per person and is charged for the length of leave that you will be granted.

You must show that you have money for living costs for each month (£1,334 a month) of your course up to a maximum of 9 months. The total living costs you must demonstrate should be based on the course dates listed on your new CAS, and be up to a maximum of 9 months (£12,006). You must also show any unpaid course tuition fees listed on your new CAS for the required period and in the required format.

If you are permitted to have dependants with you to the UK, each dependant must show that they have £845 for each month of immigration permission they will be granted. This is up to a maximum of 9 months (£7,605). Please contact us if you are unsure if you can include a dependant in your application.

Acceptable evidence:

You can show you have enough money using:

• an official financial or government sponsorship or grant
• a student loan from a government, government sponsored loan company, or a regulated student loans scheme
• your own money
• your parent's money (if they provide a letter confirming they agree to you using it this way)
• your partner's money if your partner is present in the UK or applying at the same time.

Non-acceptable evidence:

The following are not accepted as evidence to show you have the required amount of money:

• overdrafts
• bitcoin savings
• stocks and shares
• pensions
• bank accounts that don't use electronic record keeping.

Evidence you need to provide

If you are using official financial sponsorship:

Financial sponsorship is where an applicant is given money to cover some or all of their course fees or living costs, or both.

If your official financial sponsorship is not recorded on your CAS you'll need to show a letter of confirmation from the official financial sponsor. If you are not sure ask your sponsor. The letter must show:

• the date of the letter
• the name and contact details of the financial sponsor
• the length of time the official financial sponsorship will cover
• the amount of money that is being given or confirmation that all of your fees and living costs will be covered

If you are using a student loan:

A student loan can be provided by:

1. a government;
2. a government sponsored student loan company; or
3. an academic or educational loans scheme which is provided by a financial institution regulated for the purpose of issuing student loans by either the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or, in the case of overseas accounts, the official regulatory body for the country the institution is in and where the money is held.

Your student loan letter should:

• be dated no more than 6 months before the date of application
• confirm the loan is a student loan provided by either the relevant government or a government sponsored student loan company or an academic or educational loans scheme (as above)
• confirm there are no conditions on release of the loan funds other than a successful application to study
• confirm the amount of the loan
• confirm the loan is for you
• be on official stationery
• confirm the funds will be available to you before you travel to the UK, or paid directly to the sponsor before you travel to the UK, with the living cost portion of the loan being made available to you by the time you arrive in the UK.

If you are using your own money (or that of a parent or partner):

Cash can be held in a:

• current account
• deposit account
• savings account
• pension savings
• investment account.

Cash must be in an account that allows you immediate access.

Funds must have been acquired legally and if you were in the UK you must not have earned them when working illegally.

If you're using your own money, or that of a parent or partner you'll need to show you have the required amount of money in an account. You can provide:

• bank statements
• building society passbooks
• certificates of deposit
• a letter from your bank or building society

Your evidence should:

• be on official stationery
• be printed or electronic
• include the account holder(s) names
• include the account number
• include the date of the statement
• include the name of the bank or building society
• include information about the bank, such as contact details or a branch code
• show transactions and amount held over time
• show the closing balance on the account.

The evidence you provide must demonstrate that the required funds have been held for a period of consecutive 28 days.

The bank statement must not be more than 31 days old on the day you submit your visa application.

The UKVI may conduct verification checks with your bank. If they are unable to verify the funds your application may be refused.

You, or the account holder (such as your parents or partner), must have control of the funds you are relying on.

Using money held by parent(s)/legal guardian(s):

If you are relying on money held by your parents(s)/legal guardian(s), you will need to provide one of the following official documents:

• your birth certificate showing the names of your parent(s)/legal guardian(s); or
• your certificate of adoption showing the names of both parents(s) or legal guardian(s); or
• a Court document naming your legal guardian(s). The copy used must be the original legal document or a notarised copy.

Please note, UKVI cannot accept an affidavit to evidence legal guardianship as these are only evidence that someone has made a sworn statement regarding a claimed relationship, and not evidence of that relationship by themselves.

If you are relying on money held by your parents(s)/legal guardian, you must also show that your parent(s)/legal guardian have given their permission for you to use this money. You will need to provide: a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) which confirms:

• 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.

Money in other currencies

If your money is held in a foreign currency this will be converted into pound sterling (£) using the spot exchange rate on OANDA for the date of the application.

Full details can be found using the links below:

• UKVI Student Route guidance.
• UKVI Financial evidence for Student route applicants.
• UKVI Immigration Rules Appendix Finance.

• You should complete the application form in English and sign the declaration.
• You should print the application form/ supporting document checklist.
• You will need to prove your identity to UKVI. How you do this depends on where you are from and what type of passport you have.

You will either:

• give your fingerprints and a photograph (biometric information) at a visa application centre, or
• use the 'UK Immigration: ID Check' app to scan your identity document - you'll also create or sign into your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account

You will be told what you need to do when you apply.

• You will need to pay your Immigration Health Surcharge fee online.
• You should pay your application fee for the service you require.
• You will need to prepare your supporting documents and any translations to take with you to your appointment.
• You should read the UKVI Student Route guidance before you make your application.
• Once you receive a decision on your application, you should upload evidence of this to your Applicant Portal.
• Check visa processing times

You can specify any Crown Post office as the collection point for your BRP card.

The nearest collection points to the TU London Campus are:

• Stratford
  26-28 The Broadway, Stratford, London
  E15 4QS
• Hackney
  398-400 Mare Street, Hackney, London
  E8 1HP
• Leytonstone
  21 Church Lane, Leytonstone, London
  E11 1HG