Applying for your Student visa from outside the UK

The requirement for Student visa permission now also includes EU/EEA and Swiss nationals who do not have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. For further information, please see our EU, EEA and Swiss nationals webpage.

1. Student visa sponsorship and your CAS

The University of Oxford is the sponsor for your Student visa and issues your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) which you need for a Student visa application. Once your offer is unconditional (you have met all academic and financial conditions) the University will contact you by email about the preparation of your CAS. This is a unique number that will enable immigration staff to access information which the University has provided. 

Your CAS gives information such as your course start and end date, fees,  and may list one or more of your academic qualifications on which your offer was based. Check our application guide to see if you will need to provide evidence of finances with your visa application. If you are coming for degree level study, you shouldn't need to provide evidence of previous qualifications with your visa application. 

Read this page for full information and frequently asked questions about your CAS number. 

2. Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) is for security clearance from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for courses where students’ knowledge could be used in programmes to develop Advanced Conventional Military Technology (ACMT), weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) or their means of delivery. 

You may need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate if you are studying for a Masters or DPhil in certain science subjects, mathematics, engineering, technology or medicine or a 4 year undergraduate Masters in Physics or Materials. 

If you are a nationals of an EU country, the European Economic Area (EEA), Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the United States of America you do not need an ATAS certificate.

For a list of courses at Oxford that require ATAS at postgraduate level, see the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) section on the Graduate Admissions website. 

If you are applying for a Student route visa for an ATAS subject you will need an ATAS certificate to include with your visa application.

If you are coming as a Standard Visitor for a short period of study or research requiring ATAS you must have the certificate before you start the study or research. Although under the Immigration Rules, an ATAS certificate is not a requirement for a Standard Visitor visa application, in practice you will need to apply for it before you come to the UK because of the long processing times and because if you correctly indicate on your Visitor visa application that you will be coming for a period of study, you will need to indicate whether you need, and have obtained an ATAS certificate. 

If you are applying for a Student visa for an ATAS subject, you will need an ATAS certificate to include with your visa application. If you are using the Standard Visitor route for a short period of research in an ATAS subject, you will need an ATAS certificate to include with your Standard Visitor visa application (visa nationals) or before you start the research (non-visa nationals).

Read our ATAS FAQs and guide if you need to apply for ATAS. 

3. Where and how to apply for your visa

Read the Oxford guide to applying in your home country. Most new students and some students doing a further course must apply in their country of residence. 

If you are already in the UK, you may be able to apply in-UK for your student visa, though not if you are here as a visitor or without a visa. Our page on applying for a Student visa in the UK explains the circumstances in which you can apply here.  You MUST not come to the UK as a visitor or without a visa as you will not be able to make a Student visa application from within the UK or start your course. 

For those applying for a Student visa:

• There is a maximum five year time limit for study on courses at undergraduate degree level with exceptions for some courses. There are now no time limits for postgraduate study
• The financial requirement for your living expenses you may need to show is £1,136 a month
• If you will be living in University or College accommodation you will be able to offset payment in advance against the amount you need to show for living expenses but only up to a maximum of £1,483
• You may be called for a Student visa interview 
• If you are required to submit your passport for a visa sticker it must have at least one page blank on both sides.  

Cost of visa application

The basic fee is £524 payable in local currency. You may need to pay an additional fee for a biometric appointment, and there may be additional charged services available from the visa application centre. You may be able to pay for a faster decision;  £500 for the priority service (normally 5 working days) or £1000 for the super-priority service (by end of the next working day). You will also need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge at the time of your visa application - see 5 below. 

4. Tuberculosis (TB) Screening

You might need to have a TB test and get a screening certificate to show you do not have TB for your visa application if you are living in any of these listed countries or have been recently.

 The visa rules say that you need a TB certificate if you have been continuously present in a TB listed country or countries for 6 months or more, which includes a period (of any length) within the 6 months before your date of visa application.

• The TB certificate is valid for six months from the date of your x-ray so you can’t use a test older than this for your visa application
• The TB test must be done at an approved clinic
• If you have been living in a listed country up until within six months of your visa application, you may need a TB test even if you are applying in a country not on the list.
• You only need a TB test if you are coming to the UK for more than six months, but remember to count the extra time after your course end date that will be included in your visa
• You don’t need a TB test if you lived for at least 6 months in a country which is not on the list and you’ve not been away from that country for more than 6 months, for example, a TB certificate would not be required if you studied a course longer than six months in the UK then went home and applied for a new Student visa within six months of leaving the UK
• If you don’t need a test but are applying for your visa in one of the listed countries make sure it is clear where you have been living on your visa application form, for example by using the additional information box at the end to explain or uploading a cover letter highlighting your recent residence.

5. Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for access to NHS treatment

If you are coming to the UK for more than 6 months you will be required to pay the IHS as part of your Student visa application.

• IHS needs to be paid in full for the whole of your Student visa duration - see examples of what you might pay below
• Your dependants will also need to pay this if they are able to accompany you, see visas for your family 
• If a student (or a dependant) is making a visa application in the UK, they will be required to pay IHS even if the period of visa permission applied for is less than six months.

The IHS must be paid even if you have your own private medical insurance and do not intend to use the UK's National Health Service (NHS). Paying the IHS means that you will have access to the NHS on the same basis as other UK residents.  

There is full information on the IHS on the Home Office website.

Amount you will need to pay

The charge is £776 per year including part of a year that is more than six months. Part of a year less than 6 months is charged at £388. 

The charging period includes additional time added by the Home Office before your course start date and after the course end date as specified on your CAS. For 9, 10 or 11 month Masters 2 additional months will be added to your course end date for the visa expiry date and charging period; for courses that are 12 months or longer 4 additional months will be added to your course end date for the visa expiry date and charging period.  

For example for Oxford courses:

• 3-year BA degree plus 4 months added by the Home Office to course end date; 3.5-year charge i.e. £2,716
• 12-month Masters plus 4 months added by the Home Office to course end date; 1.5-year charge i.e. £1,164 
• MScRes courses at Oxford are usually set at 2 years maximum submission date plus 6 months to allow for viva and corrections and then 4 months added by the Home Office to the course end date; 3-year charge i.e. £2,328
• DPhil courses at Oxford are set at 4 years maximum submission date plus 6 months to allow for viva and corrections and then 4 months added by the Home Office to the course end date; 5-year charge i.e. £3,880

Ask your department (graduate and Recognised students) or college (undergraduate or Visiting students) if you need clarification on the exact start and end dates that will appear on your CAS.

You will pay the charge in the local currency where you apply for your visa and UKVI uses an exchange rate set at 4% above the Oanda live bid rates.

IHS reimbursement scheme for students from the European Union or Switzerland who have a European Health Insurance Card: if you do not work and do not intend to work in the UK and you have an EHIC issued by your country of nationality you might be eligible for a refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge paid as part of your Student Visa application.  Before deciding whether to apply for a refund be careful to assess the effect this will have on your access to healthcare both if you are relying on EHIC cover or you later decide to work, as this could invalidate your EHIC. For further information read the UK Home Office's page, Immigration health surcharge for EU and Swiss students in the UK. 

6. Identity Confirmation

Using the ID Check App - if you are applying with an EU, EEA or Swiss passport

At the start of the Student visa application form, you will be given the opportunity to confirm your identity (submit your biometrics) via the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app. In order to be able to use the ID Check app, your EU, EEA or Swiss passport will need a chip in it and your device such as a phone or laptop will need to be able to download the ID Check app (the device does not need to belong to you, it could belong to a friend or family member). 

By appointment

If you are not an EEA or Swiss national you will be instructed  to book an appointment to submit your biometrics at a Visa Application Centre after you have paid the IHS and visa application fee. At the appointment your face will be scanned and your fingerprints will be taken. 

7. Visa processing times

The standard visa processing time following biometrics or ID confirmation with the app is 15 working days but you may be able to pay for a faster decision;  £500 for the priority service (normally 5 working days) or £1000 for the super-priority service (by end of the next working day). Priority services are not always available in all locations, so check availability before making your appointment. UKVI has an information page about the Priority and Super Priority Visa services. 

8. When your visa is issued

When your application has been decided you should receive a confirmation email which gives details of the full length of your Student visa permission and information on accessing your eVisa. Check your junk mail folder as well as your inbox. 

If you attended an appointment to submit your biometrics

If your Student visa application is for a course longer than six months a 90-day travel vignette/sticker will be stuck into your passport when your visa is approved to allow you to travel to the UK. 

Your confirmation email will give you information on how to set up your eVisa. 

If you have an EEA or Swiss passport and used the ID check app

Your student permission will be granted in the form of an eVisa, read your decision confirmation email for details. You will not have needed to submit your passport for a visa sticker. 

9. When can you come to Oxford?

The earliest date you can travel to the UK will be the 'valid from' date on your visa sticker or in your confirmation email. This will usually be one month before the course start date given on your CAS, but if your visa is decided less than a month before the course start date it will be seven days before the ‘intended date of travel’ you put on your visa application. If the visa decision is made later than seven days before your intended date of travel, the start date will be the date of decision.   If you are coming for less than six months, and are not on a pre-sessional course, you will be issued with the full-length visa which is stuck into your passport before you travel but it will only start seven days before the course. 

You must not travel to the UK before your student visa start date. You must travel on the passport you used for your student visa application.

10. When you arrive in Oxford

Provide a share code and passport scan

You will need to provide your College with a share-code so that they can check and record your student visa permission. They will also need to check your arrival date and record a scan of your passport. Your College will explain the procedure, and you will need to follow your College's instructions for this to complete enrolment. If you are a Recognised Student you need to provide a share code and passport scan to your Oxford Department. 

11. Student and University obligations for visa holders

The University is required to tell the Home Office if you do not arrive for enrolment, leave your course, suspend your studies, or if you are absent for a long period. Please keep your college or department up-to-date with any changes in your circumstances, including your contact details and tell them about anything that may affect the progress of your studies.

It is your responsibility to keep to the conditions of your visa and to make sure you do not stay beyond its end date, unless you have put in a further visa application. If you break the conditions, you could be prosecuted or have to leave the UK and it could make it more difficult for you to get another visa.

Your visa will be issued for study at the University of Oxford only, for the course and duration specified on your CAS statement. You will usually be granted an additional two or four months after your course end date depending on the length of your course.  

For information on renewing/extending your visa while you are in the UK, travel, working during your study and your legal responsibilities, visit during your studies.

12. Check all the details on your student visa permission and get any errors corrected

Check the details in your decision email are correct. Follow the instructions in the email to set up your UKVI account so that you can access your eVisa and check the details there as well. For information about accessing your eVisa, read UKVI's page, Online immigration status (eVisa).

The details you need to check include: 

• your name
• date of birth
• your picture
• that you have been given student visa permission
• the start and end dates of your student visa permission
• the work conditions

If anything seems to be wrong, please contact [email protected] for advice on how to get it corrected.

13.  Visas for your Family

For information about whether family members would be able to accompany you to the UK as dependants and how to apply for a visa, please see our Visas for your family page.

14. If your visa applications is rejected or refused

Please tell your College or Department what has happened and contact [email protected] for advice on what to do if your application is not successful. Please include the full decision letter and we will help you decide whether to ask for an Administrative Review of the decision or to prepare a new application. Although a negative decision is upsetting please do take the time to get advice before reapplying.