Inside the UK and need a visa to start a new programme

You may be able to extend your Tier 4 visa to either:

• study another programme at the University of Hull following your current programme
• come to study at the University of Hull from another UK university

Whether or not you can make your next visa application in the UK depends on a lot of factors: your previous studies, where you studied and at what level, whether you completed your previous programme of study, what visa you currently have, what the gap between the end of your current visa and the start of your new programme is, etc. For further information please contact us at immigration@hull.ac.uk.

When to apply

If you are able to make your new visa application in the UK, you must apply:

• within 6 months of receiving a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) 
• before your current visa expires - but no more than 3 months before the course start date on your CAS

• once you have accepted your unconditional offer and prepared all of the documents
• before you enrol onto your new programme of study

If you are not able to make your next visa in the UK, you must leave UK before your current visa expires and in good time to obtain your next visa, travel to the UK and enrol you next programme. Please check our information on applying from outside of the UK.

Once you receive an offer from the University of Hull, you will need to confirm your acceptance of the offer. The details that you provide will then be used to generate your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) statement that you need for your visa application. Please ensure that the email address (your own or your Agent’s) that you provide us with is correct.

Before the University of Hull can issue you with a CAS number, you must meet all of the conditions of your offer. This may include:

English language requirements

Check what evidence you can provide to meet the English language requirements.

A deposit for your tuition fees or evidence of sponsorship

International students undertaking a taught or research Masters or a PhD must pay a tuition deposit fee. It may take 5 working days for your deposit payment to be processed depending on the time of year.

Apart from the required tuition deposit, paying tuition fees to the University in advance is not a requirement of the visa process. If you choose to pay any additional fees to the University in advance, please ensure that your payment is reflected in your CAS statement.

If your studies are funded by a University approved financial sponsor, the deposit requirement will be waived upon receipt of the appropriate financial guarantee evidence.

If you are in receipt of the tuition fee scholarship or if you are our graduate progressing to another course with us, you do not need to pay a deposit.

An Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate (if your offer letter states you need one)

Generally, ATAS applications are processed within a month and are valid for six months. However, this process may take longer during the busy periods, and there is no premium/fast track processing option. It is therefore important to allow plenty of time to obtain the certificate since your CAS will not be generated until the ATAS clearance is received.

An ATAS application includes a statement outlining your area of research/study. This statement must be the same as agreed with your supervisor and held on file at the University of Hull. Please apply for your ATAS as soon as you receive your conditional offer.

You will receive notification from our admissions team to check your applicant portal once they’ve prepared your draft CAS.

It is important to check your personal information, fees and course details etc. and to let our admissions team know if there are any mistakes. Once you have confirmed your draft CAS, they will be in a position to issue you with a final CAS.

If you do not have access to an applicant portal, you will receive your CAS by email. Please let our admissions team know as soon as possible if there are any errors.

Please ensure that if you made any payments to the University in respect of your fees or university accommodation, these are shown in your CAS.

When you receive your final CAS, you can use it to support your visa application. Your CAS is valid for a single visa application and must be used within 6 months of being issued.

It is important to ensure that all the documents in support of your visa application meet current visa requirements to avoid any delays and/or refusals. Please see our documents guidance for more information.

If you already have a Police Registration Certificate, please make sure that it is up-to-date with details of your current address, current visa, your new passport (if you obtained one recently) and any other relevant details.

The date of your visa application is the date you submit it and pay your visa fee online. You must submit your visa application before your current visa expires. It is important that you have all the relevant documents in place before you complete your online visa application.

Please click apply now at the bottom of UKVI webpage to start your Tier 4 online application.

Once you create your application, UKVI will send you an email with a link. Please remember to verify your email address if you receive UKVI verification email. You do not have to complete all of your application at once and can log back into it via the link sent to you by UKVI.

Tier 4 online visa application has 6 sections. Please only complete Sections 1 and 2 if you would like your application and documents to be checked by our immigration team.

When you prepare all of your documents and complete Sections 1 and 2 of your online visa application, please email contact our immigration team  to request a Tier 4 application and document checking appointment. Please quote your name and student number and allow us at least a few days to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.

Please bring all of your documents, your laptop/ tablet and your log-in details for your application and document checking appointment.

If you plan to apply for your new visa without our assistance, please keep evidence that you submitted your new visa application before your current visa expired as you will need this evidence when you enrol on your programme. 

Once your documents are ready, you can submit your online visa application and arrange an appointment to provide UKVI with your documents and biometric details. We will be happy to guide you through this process during our Tier 4 application and document check.

If, as a result of your visa application, you will be staying in the UK for 6 months or more, you will need to pay a healthcare charge.

You will be automatically directed to a website to check your details and to pay your IHS charge as part of your online Tier 4 visa application. Please ensure that all your details are correct. Current IHS fee is £300 per year of your intended stay in UK. The total amount payable will be based on the full length of your visa which is usually longer than the length of your programme of study.

You will be allocated an IHS reference number that should appear on your Tier 4 document checklist.

There are three ways to submit your Tier 4 General visa application depending on how quickly you want UKVI to process it.

Standard Service– it could take up to 8 weeks for UKVI to decide your visa application. Current fee is £494.20 and includes biometric enrolment fee.

Priority Service – a decision is usually reached within 5 to 10 working days. Current cost is £972.20 and includes biometric enrolment fee.

Super Priority Service – UKVI decision is expected the next working day following your appointment (in most cases). Current fee is £1104.20 inclusive of biometric enrolment fee.

Depending on the time of the day and the type of the UKVCAS service point centre (UK Visa & Citizenship Application Services) you choose, there may be additional costs between £60 to £125 (appointment fee) and travel to/from this centre.

You can choose to upload your documents before your appointment. Alternatively, documents in support of your Tier 4 visa application will be uploaded during your UKVCAS appointment.

Your biometric details will also be enrolled during your visa application appointment.

Whichever service you choose, please remember to follow the online instructions, download and print your Tier 4 Document checklist and your appointment confirmation and take these documents together with all the documents listed on your Tier 4 checklist to your visa application appointment.

UKVI may contact you during your visa application process by email or letter if they need further information from you. If you receive any emails or letters from UKVI and not sure what action to take, please contact our immigration team as soon as possible.

You may be interviewed by the UKVI (Home Office) as part of your visa application process in the UK. The purpose of the interview is to check whether you are a genuine student and have a sufficient level of English.

You may be asked questions about how and why you chose the University of Hull and your programme of study; who is funding your studies; and asked to comment on your education or employment history, future plans, and other relevant topics.

The Home Office may send you an email or letter asking you to attend your interview. You may be asked to submit an interview confirmation form prior to attendance. Please ensure that you check your emails on a regular basis (inbox and junk or spam folders). You could be interviewed in person, by telephone or Skype.

It is important to answer all of the questions to the best of your knowledge as you may be refused a visa if the Immigration Officer finds that you are not a genuine student or your English is not at the expected level. Please contact our immigration team with details of your interview if you need further assistance.

Should your visa application be successful, UKVI would normally email you to confirm that you have been granted a visa to study with us and that your BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) will follow shortly. Please check this letter carefully for any conditions attached to your new visa.

Your new BRP will be sent to you by courier within a week or so following UKVI notification.

When you receive your BRP:

• Check your BRP to ensure that all of the details are correct. If there are any errors, please contact our Immigration Team for further assistance.
• Take your new BRP to the Central HUB for it to be scanned if you receive it after you enrolled on your programme of study.
• If you are required to register with the police or already have  a Police Registration Certificate, please make arrangements to obtain it or to update your existing certificate.

You need to enrol at the start of your programme and before its latest enrolment date (also known as latest start date). You cannot start attending your classes until you formally complete your enrolment process.

What to provide during your enrolment

• Your original valid passport.
• Your original valid visa vignette/BRP allowing you to study in the UK OR your current Tier 4 visa/BRP issued to study at the University of Hull.
• Your original qualifications listed on your CAS in the section ‘Evidence provided’ unless these have already been checked by our Admissions Service.
• ATAS certificate (if applicable) for your programme of study.
• Evidence that you submitted your visa application before your current visa expired (if relevant). This is applicable to students who made their visa applications in the UK before the start of their programme and are still waiting for UKVI’s decision.

 Depending on the visa application that you made, it could be a copy of your Tier 4 Document checklist, submitted application form or UKVI acknowledgement letter, etc.

• Our visa compliance team may also need your permission to contact the UKVI to check what visa application you have made and whether you are allowed to study while waiting for your visa application to be decided.
• Payment of at least half of your tuition fees or evidence from the official financial sponsor who will be responsible for your tuition fees.

Late enrolment

There may be instances when, due to circumstances outside of your control, you may not be able to start your programme on time. It is important to check with your department what the latest date is for you to join the programme and whether you can arrive and enrol before it.

If you need more time, you must apply to your department to extend your latest enrolment  date. Your application will only be approved if there are exceptional circumstances for the delay and if University believes that your late arrival and enrolment will not have a negative impact on your academic progress and successful completion of your course.

In some cases, you will need to consider a deferral (postponing the start of your programme till our next available start date) to ensure that you do not miss a significant part of your programme of study.

Non-enrolment for Tier 4 General visa holders

The University of Hull, as your Tier 4 visa sponsor, is obliged to notify UKVI if you do not enrol by your latest enrolment date. This will have serious implications on your visa application (if it is still under consideration) or on your Tier 4 visa (if it has already been issued). Therefore, it is extremely important to contact your department, immigration team and our visa compliance team as soon as you realise that you are unable to start your course on time.