Differentiation Arrangements
Section 1: Purpose and Contents of this page:
This page has been created to provide guidance on the Differentiation Arrangements under the Student Route rules. The Differentiation Arrangements mean that some nationals are not required to provide certain documents with their initial application for a Student Visa.
Please ensure you have carefully read the guidance provided for your situation BEFORE you contact Student Immigration.
- You hold a passport which shows you are registered as a British National (Overseas), or which was issued by the competent authorities of Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, or Taiwan (which includes the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority of Taiwan); OR
- You are a national of any of the following:
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Barbados
Belgium
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Croatia
Republic of Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
The Dominican Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
United States of America
- Documents used to meet the Financial Requirement
- Documents used by the University to assess academic ability (previous degree/qualification) and English Language ability, where this would have otherwise been required because you will be studying at below-degree level
Important
You must still prepare all of the evidence and ensure it is in the right format even though you are not submitting it with you application. This is because the caseworker is entitled to ask for the above documents as a "spot-check" during your application process.
If you cannot provide documents which meet the requirement upon request by the caseworker, or if you submit documents that you were not required to submit and these do not meet the requirements, your application will be refused.
If you are applying under the Differentiation Arrangements, you must still submit all other documents required for your visa application as normal, for example:
- Current passport
- Current Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) if applying from within the UK
- TB certificate, if applying outside of the UK and you are resident in a country where this is required
- ATAS certificate, if your course is ATAS registered and you are not exempt by nationality
- Financial Sponsor's Consent Letter, if you completed a course in the UK in the last 12 months for which you were fully sponsored by a government or international scholarship agency
- Parental Consent, if you are under the age of 18 on the date of application
- English Translations, if any of the required documents are not in English or Welsh
The above list may not be exhaustive. Please read our guidance on applying for a student visa carefully for further details.
- They are applying at the same time as the student (using the same application form); AND
- Both the dependent, and the student, hold a qualifying nationality
Please see our detailed guidance for Student Visa Dependent Partners and Children
If, after reading the guidance above, and you are still unsure of what you should do next, please contact Student Immigration to discuss your situation via the following methods:
Please click on the following links for more information
University of Warwick:
UK Government:
Other contacts: