If you are a current student at the University of Birmingham and you need more time to complete your course, you will need to apply for a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number and use this for a Student Route visa application.

You must apply for your online CAS request up to three months before your visa is due to expire by completing the steps below.

Before a CAS can be assigned, the International Student Team (IST) will need to check that you have all the necessary documents to submit a Student Route visa application. 

New Students: You must contact the Admissions Team directly for your CAS. This webpage and CAS Request Form should not be used by new students who are due to commence a course. It is for continuing students only. 

An Expired Student Route Visa Vignette: Students outside UK who have been granted under the Student Route visa but whose 90 day visa vignette (sticker in passport) has now expired, must check if they can make an application to UKVI for a replacement visa vignette only. Further details about replacement visa vignette are explained here on UKCISA.

Step 1 - Preparing your documents

Step 2 - Complete the CAS request form

Frequently Asked Questions 

Step 1 - Preparing your supporting documents

You must prepare all your visa documents before completing the online CAS Request Form in step 2.

Please note, if you complete step 2 without uploading all of your required documentation, this may cause delays for your CAS Request assessment.

 5 August 2022 Update: You no longer need to register with the police. The Police Registration visa requirement ended on 5 August 2022. This change is retrospective for all applicants in the UK such as current Student (formerly Tier 4) visa holders. You are no longer required to submit any police registration documents to the Home Office (UKVI). Full details of this change can be found on UKCISA.

Full List of Required Documents

• Valid Passport - Please upload the bio-data (photo) page of your passport.
• Biometric Residence Permit - Please upload photos for front and back of your current Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and make sure to clearly state your current visa expiry date in the CAS Request Form. (If you do not have a BRP, then you can skip this section in the CAS Request Form)
• Financial Evidence - Please check the two finance sections below this list for further details. 
• TB Clearance Certificate - Only applies to certain applicants from outside the UK - Please upload a valid TB Test Certificate from a UKVI approved clinic. Please note if you are outside the UK or have been living outside the UK for more than 6 months and are resident currently in a country that requires this, then you must submit a TB clearance certificate. It is important to note that this TB requirement applies ‘at the time of visa application’ and depends on the 'country of residence' (not nationality).
• Time Limit Cap - Applies to study at degree level (or below degree level) on a Student visa - Complete the Study Time Limit Calculation Form (see information below in section of Study Time Limit for the document to complete and upload in your CAS Request Form.
• Dependant family members - If you have dependant family members who will be applying with you at the same time, you only need to confirm the number of dependants who will be applying for a visa. For financial documents, dependants have different financial requirements and will need to show evidence of funds for their living costs for the proposed visa duration (not course duration) - up to a maximum of 9 months. See the below section for further information on dependant eligibility. Please read about new changes  from 17 July 2023 to the UK Immigration Rules that affects dependant eligibility on the UKCISA website.
• Certified translations of any required visa documents in English
• Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) (If applicable to you) - ATAS only applies to a qualification exit level of postgraduate degree or above. ATAS is a certificate issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) which gives you security clearance to study certain subject areas in the UK (where the knowledge/research can be used to make weapons of mass destruction). Please ask your School in the first instance for the CAH3 code for your research/programme and whether it is normally ATAS attracting. As a continuing student, you should aim to submit your ATAS application up to 4 months before your current visa expiry date. Use this ATAS webpage to check your nationality and study (only if it applies to your level of study). All students must select option 'Taught/Research Student' not 'Researcher'. Please also check our ATAS FAQs guide for any further details. 

• Finance: Tuition Fees and Living Costs

  When applying for your Student visa you need to ensure that you have enough money to cover your outstanding tuition fees + living costs of £1,023 for each month of your course - up to a maximum of 9 months £9207. You must prepare your financial evidence carefully in order for it to meet the UKVI financial requirements.

• Types of funding:
• Finance - a) Self-funded - Please upload your proof of funds for example, your own bank statement(s) or a certificate of deposit. 
• Finance - b) Parents Funds - If you are relying on your parent(s)/legal guardian(s) funds then you will also need to evidence a further two documents. Birth Certificate/adoption certificate as evidence of your relationship to your parents and a parental consent letter stating that your parents are happy for you to use their funds/bank account for visa purposes. You can use our Parental Consent letter template. Please edit the template to include all parents consent where applicable. Everyone who has legal responsibility for you must sign the consent letter. This means that both your parents or legal guardians have to sign the letter. If just one person has sole responsibility for you then the letter should be from this person only. 

• Finance - c) Current Official Sponsorship - If you are currently officially sponsored for your studies, you will need to provide a letter from your sponsor which confirms the sponsorship. This applies even if you meet the automatic maintenance requirement of 10 points.
• Finance - d) Previous Official Sponsorship - If you have been official financially sponsored within the last 12 months you will also need to provide a letter from your sponsor confirming that they give you ‘unconditional consent” to re-enter or remain in the UK to extend your Student visa.
• Finance - e) Automatic 10 points for Living Costs - Please complete a 'Student Route Financial Declaration Form' (Only if you (+ dependants) will be able to meet the financial requirements automatically where you have held valid visa permission for the last 12 months or more (by date of application) and applying from within the UK. See below for the linked form that the IST will assess. IIf met, you will not need to provide financial evidence with your visa application (However, if you are in receipt of official financial sponsorship, you still must submit letter of consent). In the Student visa extension application, you may be asked if you have lived in the UK for the last 12 months. If you answer yes, you will not be asked to provide further evidence of funds. 

Students who are officially sponsored or have been officially sponsored in the last 12 months: if you are being officially financially sponsored or have been officially financially sponsored within the last 12 months, you are still required to obtain 'unconditional consent' for you to remain in the UK, in writing from your official financial sponsor. This new letter should also include your dependants' details, if they were/are included in the sponsorship are applying with you for a Student visa extension.

Student Route Financial Declaration Form (applying from inside UK):  If your current BRP was issued less than 12 months ago, you may need to also attach a copy of the previous BRP in order for us to check you have had more than 12 months of valid permission.

This form is for IST assessment purposes only. If you do not meet the automatic 10 points, the IST will confirm this to you and you will need to prepare your financial documentation for full assessment to meet the UKVI financial requirements (see above for full list of required documents).

Student Route Financial Declaration Form

Dependants

Please read about new changes from 17 July 2023 to the UK Immigration Rules that affects dependant eligibility on the UKCISA website.

You will need extra money if you have dependants applying with you at the same time. Living costs required for each dependant is £680 per month and calculated by the visa permission duration, up to a maximum of 9 months (£6120). The IST will need to assess your dependant documents if you are applying at the same time before an assessment can be completed. You can check about the dependant eligibility to help you prepare the correct supporting documentation for each applicant.

You can upload dependant/extra visa documents under the last section of 'translation documents' within your CAS Request Form. 

Study Time Limit Cap

There are no UKVI time limits on study at postgraduate level (RQF Level 7) and above e.g. Masters student, PhD student. These types of students do not need to complete this form as the UKVI time limit cap does not apply to your level of study. 

However, there are time limits ('caps') on how long you can study with a Student visa (this includes older versions e.g. Tier 4 visa) in the UK at either:

• Study at degree level (e.g. Bachelors, RQF Level 6) = 5 year limit
• Study at below degree level (e.g. RQF Level 5) = 2 year limit

For any time spent studying on a visa in the UK, while under the age of 18 is not to be counted in calculation. Time previously spent studying on the Student route (includes previously named Tier 4 visas) will be included in the calculation by the (UKVI) Home Office. Please note, there are only a few exceptions to the 5 year limit at degree level.

Please complete the form below if this applies to you.

     Study Time Limit Calculation Form

Important Information - UKVI Differentiation Arrangements (Low Risk National)

Nationals of some countries do not need to provide evidence of their their money when they apply for a Student route visa. UKVI has named this as the "differentiation agreement" for " ‘low risk’ nationalities under the Student Route visa. You will need to refer to the UKVI list of nationals subject to different documentary requirements to see if your nationality is classed as ‘low risk'. If your country is on this list and you are applying from your home country or from the UK, then you will be classed as a low risk national. This means you will not be required to submit your financial evidence to UKVI (exceptions may apply if you are/have been in receipt of a official financial sponsorship).

If you have dual nationality and one of these nationalities is 'low risk', you can only be classed as low risk applicant, if you apply from that country and use this passport of that nationality for application. If you are a dual national, in this situation and you apply from a non-low risk country - you need to include your financial documents in your Student Route visa application.

However, you will still need to sign a declaration in your online CAS Request Form to confirm to the IST that you hold the necessary financial evidence. You must hold this evidence in the accepted format as the UKVI may request this evidence as part of their decision process later. UKVI will refuse your application later, if you are unable to provide it within a specified time frame.

For further details on the listed nationalities, you can also check the UK Immigration Rules that apply to the Student Route visa in ST 22.1 of the Immigration Rules ('Eligibility Requirements for a Student' - Scroll down to the last section for the list).

Continuing student with EU nationality - First CAS

Some EU nationals may need to request their first CAS from the IST, where they are a continuing student with no other visa permission to study in the UK. EU nationals who are classed as international students may need to apply for the Student Route visa, which will require a CAS. 

Please note, if you think you may be eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme or have been granted leave under this other visa route, then you should not require a CAS for Student visa purposes. Please read the UKCISA EU Settlement advice webpage for further advice. You will need to check if you need a UK visa if you’re planning to study in the UK from 1 January 2021 as normally you will not be eligible to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme unless you were living in the UK before 31 December 2020.

Step 2 - Submit your online CAS Request Form

Only one CAS Request Form submission is required, please do not submit duplicate requests.

When you complete your online form below, you will need to have your prepared visa documents for uploading in each required section that may apply to you. Upon assessment, the IST will contact you to request for further documents if you do not include all the required documentation which will cause further delays to the request processing time.

If you have submitted your request with all of the required visa documents in the correct format, the assessment of your CAS Request may be completed within 10 working days. If the IST requires any further documents or information, please allow for further processing time for IST to be able to complete our assessment. The IST has to prioritise CAS Requests based on urgency (if your visa is due to expire within the UK) as well the submission date.

     Start your CAS Request Form here 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)