You must have a new Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number from the University of Warwick to make any Student Visa application. You cannot use a CAS that you have used in a previous application for a student visa that was decided, even if you are now seeking to extend your visa for the same course.

When and from which team you can request a CAS depends on whether you are a new student (starting a new course from the beginning) or a continuing student (continuing on the same course or switching to a new course part-way through your studies).

Unless you are applying for your Student Visa from within the UK and have been living in the UK with valid permission for the 12 months before your application, you must prepare financial evidence before making your visa application. You must show that you have funds to cover:

• the balance of your first year’s tuition fees (as shown on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies email), AND
• a defined maintenance amount (9,207 GBP if your CAS is 9 months or longer).

Unless relying on a letter from an Official Financial Sponsor or in the form of a Student Loan, you must show that you have held the required amount in a personal bank account (in your name or in the name of a parent, with birth certificate and consent letter), for a minimum period of 28 days.

This 28-day period is calculated by counting back from the closing balance date of your statement, which itself must be before, but no more than 31 days before, your application date.

The UK Home Office has very precise requirements for this evidence, which you must follow carefully. Unacceptable forms of financial evidence, or funds not held for the required 28-day period, are the most common reason for a Warwick Student Visa to be refused.

Please see our detailed guidance on the Financial RequirementLink opens in a new window and check your evidence carefully before submitting your application.

You only need to submit financial evidence with your application if this appears on the 'Document Checklist' at the end of your visa application. If you hold a nationality on the Differential Evidence listLink opens in a new window, you do not need to submit any Financial Evidence with your visa application, however, a UKVI caseworker has the right to ask you to provide the evidence later in the process as a spot-check.

If you are making your application overseas and have resided for more than 6 months in a country or countries listed in Appendix T of the Immigration RulesLink opens in a new window, you must provide a Tuberculosis screening certificate which remains in-date on your intended travel date to the UK.

The certificate must be from a UK Government approved clinicLink opens in a new window.

If your course requires clearance under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS), you must provide an in-date ATAS certificate with your Student Visa application.

You will be informed as a condition of your offer if your course requires this.

You do not require an ATAS certificate if you are a national of any EU/EEA country, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United States of America; although, the application is free of chargeLink opens in a new window.

It can take a very long time to obtain an ATAS certificate. ATAS certificates are valid for use in a visa application for 6 months once granted. Applications regularly take longer than 30 working days to process, therefore:

When making your ATAS applicationLink opens in a new window, it is vital that you enter your details exactly as they appear on the email you have received from the Admissions or Student Records teams.

If you have completed a course in the UK in the 12 months before your application, for which you received Official Financial Sponsorship from a Government or International Scholarship Agency for both fees and living costs, you must provide a consent letter from that Government or Agency to you making this application.

You must provide a passport or travel document which will be valid on your intended date of travel to the UK. If you are applying overseas, the passport or travel document must have at least 1 blank page available (unless you are an EU national and your passport has a biometric chip).

If your Warwick course is at degree level (RQF6, Bachelors level), the proposed new visa must not lead to you being granted more than 5 years of Student or Tier 4 (General) permission for study at degree level since your 18th birthday (concessions apply allowing for the completion of a 5th academic year of study).

If your Warwick course is below degree level (e.g. Warwick International Foundation Programme, or Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) for Pre-Sessional English Language Courses only), the proposed new visa must not lead to you being granted more than 2 years of Student or Tier 4 (General) permission for study below degree level since your 18th birthday.

If you will be making your Student Visa application in the UK and have been previously granted a UK Student or Tier 4 (General) Visa, you must meet the Academic Progress Requirement. With some exceptions, this means that you must have successfully complete the course for which your last Student or Tier 4 (General) Visa was granted, and be progressing to a course at a higher academic level.

The Admissions Team will make an assessment as to whether you meet the above requirements before issuing a CAS, based on the information you have provided about your previous visas in the UK. Therefore, you must ensure you provide this information fully and accurately.

If you will be under the age of 18 on the date you make your visa application, you must provide:

• a consent letter from a parent or legal guardian, giving consent to your visa application, to you living independently in the UK, and to you traveling independently to the UK;
• a birth certificate, certificate of adoption, or court document proving your relationship to your parent or legal guardian.

If any of the documents you are required to submit with your visa application are not in English or Welsh, in addition to the document, you must provide a scanned copy of a fully certified English translation by a professional translator/translation company.

This must include:

• details of the translator/translation company’s credentials;
• a statement confirming that it is an accurate translation of the document;
• the translator/translation company’s contact details;
• the date of translation and the the signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company.

The University is unable to assist in the translation of documents but there are a couple of local translation companies that may be able to assist you.

Their details are below:

Please note that we are not recommending these companies but are simply providing contact details. You are advised to check the charge for any translations when you make initial contact with any company.

Alternatively, some embassies may offer a translation service for official documents in their language and there are also qualified individuals and other private companies specialising in translation services. You should, however, ensure that any translations meet all four of the Home Office translation requirements as detailed above.

Certain applicants whose presence in the UK may be deemed not to be conducive to the public good, have previously breached UK immigration laws, used deception or fraud in an immigration application, or have a criminal record, may be unsuccessful in making a UK Student Visa applicationLink opens in a new window on this basis.

If you are concerned that any of these criteria may apply to you, we recommend contacting us for advice.

The University may not be able to issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to you in these circumstances.

If you are applying overseas, your visa start date will be up to 1 month before your course start date, depending on the intended travel date you have entered on the application form.

Your visa will cover the length of your course plus an additional period after the end of your course. Your visa expiry date should always be 4 months after the Course End Date shown on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), unless it is for a Pre-Sessional Course or for a Course lasting less than 6 months.

Check your visa decision email or letter carefully when you receive it in case UK Visas and Immigration have not granted to correct length of visa.

You will be required to pay the Immigration Health SurchargeLink opens in a new window on a credit or debit card as part of your application. The debit or credit card does not need to belong to you.

Payment of the Immigration Health Surcharge grants access to secondary and non-emergency healthcare in the National Health Service (NHS) on a similar basis to other UK residents.

You will be charged at a rate of 388 GBP per 6-month block. For example, if you will be granted a visa for approximately 17 months (typical for a 1-year Masters), you would expect to pay 3 blocks of 6 months = 1164 GBP.

It is possible for certain categories of students to bring dependent partners and children to the UK. Warwick can offer advice to Student Visa Dependents on their applications as well.

Please see our dependent visa guidance for more details.

You can apply for a Student Visa once:

• You have received a new Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number from either your Admissions Team (applicants starting a new course who have received and accepted an unconditional offer) or the Student Immigration Team (students continuing on the same course);
• It is no more than 3 months before the ‘Course Start Date” on that CAS (if you are applying for your visa inside of the UK);
• You meet the Student Visa eligibility requirements and have prepared any required documents.

After paying the Immigration Health Surcharge, you will be required to pay the Visa Application Fee on a credit or debit card. The debit or credit card does not need to belong to you.

Paying the application fee successfully means you have submitted your visa application and fixes your 'date of application'. You can prove the date and type of your visa application using the email payment confirmation when requested by the University.

The Standard Student Visa Application Fees are:

• Overseas: 490 GBP (3 weeks decision-making time)
• Within the UK: 490 GBP (8 weeks decision-making time)

If applying in the UK, or in a country where the services are available, it is possible to pay an additional fee for a faster decision on your applicationLink opens in a new window:

• Priority Service: 500 GBP in addition to standard fee (5 working days decision-making time)
• Super-Priority Service: 800 GBP in addition to standard fee (decision the next working day)

When providing your details to your admissions team for the purposes of issuing you with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), you will be asked about:

• Any previous Student or Tier 4 (General) UK Visas you have been granted
• If applicable, the type of UK visa you currently hold, and when it expires
• Whether you intend to apply for your visa inside of the UK, or overseas

You must provide this information fully and accurately. If anything changes or you think you may have made a mistake, you must inform the team that issued your CAS straight away.

The admissions team will use the information you have provided to assess whether you are eligible to make a visa application within the UK, and will inform you if you are not.

If you meet the Academic Progress Requirement and hold a UK visa (other than as a visitor, Short-Term Student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, Domestic Worker in a Private Household or Outside of the Immigration Rules), that expires no more than 28 days before your course start date, then you can apply for a Student Visa either within the UK (you must remain in the UK until you receive your visa) or overseas in the country you are living in.

Otherwise, you must apply overseas in the country you are living in.

If you are applying overseas:

• You must apply for your student visa in time to receive your visa and travel to the UK before your course start date.

Once you have completed the application and attended a Visa Application Centre Appointment (if you are required to), standard service applications normally take around 3 weeks for the UK Home Office to make its decision. You will need an additional 1-2 weeks for your passport to be returned to you if applicable.

• It is normal for some applicants to not receive their results and meet the conditions of their offer until close to their course start date.

The University cannot issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), and you will not be able to submit a student visa application, until you have met the conditions of your offer. If this applies to you, check the VFS websiteLink opens in a new window or TLS websiteLink opens in a new window (depending on the country you are living in) to see if user-pay expedited services are available (Priority and Super-Priority services).

• You must not attempt to enter the UK until your visa has been granted and until its start date has passed. You will not be able to start your course until you have entered the UK within the validity of your Student Visa.
• Your 'Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)' email will show a “Latest Start Date”. This is the deadline by which you must have arrived in the UK in order to start your course this academic year. However, you should ensure you arrived by your “Course Start Date” wherever possible if this is different.

If you are applying within the UK, you must:

• Submit your visa application (pay the application fee) on or before your current visa expiry date – this is called making an 'in-time application' and means your legal status in the UK is protected until the application is decided.
• Receive the new visa before your Course Start Date if your current visa type is 'Graduate' or 'High Potential Individual' (you will not be able to start your course until you have received your Student Visa).
• Submit your visa application (pay the application fee) before your course start date if your current visa type is 'Student', issued for a different course or institution (you will not be able to start your course until you have provided evidence (payment receipt, document checklist, or copy application form) showing that you have submitted an application using a Warwick CAS).