Staff at the Student Advice Centre are qualified to give immigration advice to students of the University of Kent and those studying franchised courses at other colleges.
We can advise you on the following areas:
• extending your student visa in the UK
• applying for entry clearance from your home country
• registering with the police
• working while studying
• information on applying for a Schengen (EU) visa (because of the high cost involved we cannot arrange appointments with embassies for you)
• working in the UK after your studies (please note that we cannot submit applications for Post Study Work visas)
Extending your student visa in the UK
Biometrics and Identity Cards
Money needed to extend your visa
Visa processing times (in UK)
Applying for student entry clearance from your home country
Student Visitor visas
Visa processing times (applications made outside UK)
Postgraduate students studying sciences and technical/engineering subjects
Urgent information if your student visa (leave to remain) has expired
Useful links
Extending your student visa in the UK
If your leave to remain as a student (student visa) will expire before you finish your studies in the UK, you will need to extend it. You should submit your application to extend your visa before it expires.You may apply up to 3 months before your current visa expires. Do not wait until the last minute, as you will need a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number from the university and you must provide a number of documents to support your application. There are also periods when both we and the UK Border Agency are extremely busy because many students' visas expire on the same date (at the end of October and January).
You can make an appointment with a student adviser who will check your application form and supporting documents. We will also send the form to the UK Border Agency on your behalf via the student batch scheme(though please note that at busy times it may only be possible for us to check your application and documents before you post the application yourself). Your visa and other documents are returned to us. The UK Border Agency charges a fee of £357 to process your application plus £50 for each dependant who applies with you. There is no extra charge for our service. Please note that the application forms are 41 pages long! Sadly, this means that we can no longer provide free copies of the form. You can buy a copy from Kent Union reception for £1.50 or download and print off (double - sided if possible!) your own from the UK Border Agency.
It is vital that you read the guidance carefully, get the necessary documents and complete the form before you attend your appointment as we will not have time to complete the form for you.
We only accept banker's drafts or postal orders for payment of the application fee. You can get postal orders from Post Offices. Please note that your bank/the Post Office charges and issue fee for these items. You will find information on postal orders and issue fees here.
Visa application fee increase
The UKBA is increasing the fees for many types of visa on 6 April 2010.
Increases apply to applications made in the UK and overseas.
Fees for postal applications to extend Tier 4 (General) Student visas in the UK are not increasing, but fees for in person applications are increasing to £628 (£107 for your dependants if they apply in person at the same time as you). Postal application fees for dependants are increasing to £80.
Fees for Tier 4 (General) Student visa applications made outside the UK are increasing to £199.
The application forms will be updated as the fees change. Make sure that you use the right form when you make your application and pay the right fee. If your payment is wrong, your application will be invalid.
Download a full list of new fees effective from 6 April
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You must be able to show that you have the required points under the Tier 4 (General) Student rules. Points are awarded as follows:
| Points required: 40 | Points awarded |
|
Having a valid Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies |
30 |
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Having enough money to cover course fees and monthly living costs (also known as maintenance or funds) |
10 |
Biometrics and Identity Cards
All applicants for student visas now have to give biometrics. This means that you will have to attend one of the UK Border Agency's Biometric Enrolment Centres to have your fingerprints and photograph taken. The nearest ones to Canterbury are the London Biometric Enrolment Centre and the Croydon Biometric Enrolment Centre (South London).
Once the UK Border Agency has received your visa application they will send you a letter telling you to make an appointment to give your biometrics. You can book an appointment by phone or online.
Your new visa will be on a credit card sized ID card which has your photo on the front, together with information about how long your extension is and the University's sponsor licence number. It also shows whether you are allowed to do any work, and tells you if you are required to register with the police.The card includes a microchip which contains two of your fingerprints.
Money needed to extend your visa
All students must show that they have enough money to pay their course fees plus living costs in the UK.
The required amounts for living costs depend on your circumstances and whether you have what the UKBA calls an "established presence" in the UK as a student.
If you have an established presence in the UK as a student, you must show that you have enough money for your course fees for each month of your course plus £600 per month, up to a maximum of 2 months (£1,200).
You are deemed to have an established presence if:
You have completed a course that was at least six months long within your last period of leave, and this leave finished within the last four months; or
If you have dependants with you in the UK (husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner, or child) you must now submit additional application forms for each dependant. They will also need to show that they have sufficient funds in their bank account (a total of £800 each if you have an established presence as a student in the UK and your course is for more than one month) when they apply or that you have sufficient funds to support them.
If you are sponsored by an official body such as a government department or educational institution you must provide proof that your official financial sponsor has paid your fees or that your sponsorship covers fees and living costs. If you are using your own money, you must provide proof that you have paid your fees or that you have enough money to pay the fees and that you have enough money for living costs. Please refer to the UKBA Tier 4 Policy Guidance and our list of documents for more details on what documents you must provide as proof of your finances/financial sponsorship.
Visa processing times (in UK)
Due to the introduction of Tier 4 of the Points Based System and ID cards with biometric details for all students applying to extend their visas, there can be long delays in processing visa applications. Most applications should be processed within 20 working days of the applicant's biometric appointment, but during busy periods it may take up to 6 months for your application to be processed if you apply by post via the student batch scheme. In view of this, we would encourage all students whose visas expire before the end of their current course of study to do so as soon as possible. If you are planning to travel outside the UK you will need to think carefully about when and how to apply and consider either:
- * making an application in person at the UK Border Agency (this costs £628), or;
- * leaving the UK before your current visa expires and applying for Entry Clearance from your home country (you will need to take all of the necessary documents with you and make sure that they are dated no more than one month earlier than the date of your application).
If you wish to apply in person, you will need to book an appointment by phone or online.
Please contact the student advice centre so that we can advise you on the best option for you and let you know if you are able to make an application now.
Download a Tier 4 application form from the UK Border Agency and read the Policy Guidance notes.
Read information from UKCISA on making a student visa application in the UK
Applying for a student visa from your home country
If you are outside the UK you need to apply for a visa before you travel to the UK to study. You may also apply abroad for a visa to continue a course that you have already started. The application forms are different from those used to extend a visa from inside the UK.
You will need to provide a number of documents to support your application and you will need a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number from the university.
If you are starting a new course at the University of Kent you must get your CAS number from the Admissions Office. Please note that CAS numbers can only be issued to new students who have an unconditional offer of a place at Kent. They will be issued automatically and it should not be necessary for you to request a CAS.
If you will be returning to continue a course you have already started at the University of Kent, you will need to request a CAS number from the Student Records Office.
You will find detailed guidance on applying for a visa here:
You will find the Home Office notes and the application forms here:
Student Visitor Visas
We do not advise you to apply for a Student Visitor Visa unless you are certain that you will not want to work while you are here and that you will only be here for a maximum of 6 months. It is not possible to extend these visas or switch from a Student Visitor to a Student Visa.
Visa processing times (applications made outside UK)
UK Border Agency Guide to visa application processing times
Postgraduate students studying sciences and technical/engineering subjects
If you are a Masters or PhD student you must get a clearance certificate before submitting your visa application if you are studying a subject which is on a list under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS). It currently takes 20 working days to obtain the certificate, so we recommend that you apply at least 6 weeks before you submit your visa application.
You can find out if your course is on the list by visiting the ATAS pages at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website. You will first need to find out the JACS code from your departmental office or your personal tutor.
If you are making an immigration application solely in order to write up your thesis, take your viva or resit exams you do not need an ATAS certificate to extend your visa. (Please refer to the FCO information and paragraph 85 of the UKBA Policy Guidance for details.)
Please contact us if you need further advice on this.
Urgent information if your student visa (leave to remain) has expired
'Overstayers' are people who have come to the end of their immigration permission to be in the UK and who have remained here without applying to renew it. It is a criminal offence to remain in the UK without valid immigration leave.
If you make an application to renew your visa after it has expired you will not have the right to appeal if the UK Border Agency refuses to extend it.
If you overstay for more than 28 days, any UK immigration application you make is likely to be refused automatically and you may be barred from coming back to the UK for at least 12 months (and in some cases five or ten years). Contact us for advice before making an immigration application if you are an overstayer.
Overstays of 6 months or more are considered to be especially serious: if you have already overstayed for 6 months or more, you should contact us immediately and we will refer you on for urgent advice from an immigration specialist. Do not contact the UK Border Agency without getting advice first.
Useful links
NUS Information for international students
UKCISA - advice for international students
University of Kent International Office
Government immigration web sites
Working in the UK
We can also give you advice on budgeting, financial management and debt, consumer - goods and services, employment advice and housing. Just take a look through the links on the left hand side of our home page.
How to contact us
