International Student Support Office

Tier 4 (General) Student Visa Application Supporting Documents Checklist It is extremely important that you provide the correct documents required for a Tier 4 (General) student visa application. This checklist will help you to make sure that you’ve got everything you need to apply for your visa. You will be making either an entry clearance application (applying for your visa at a UK visa application centre/embassy/consulate abroad), or a visa extension application (extending your current visa from within the UK). This checklist is relevant for both types of application, but you must also refer to the correct section of our website for the procedure you will need to follow: www.exeter.ac.uk/internationalstudents. Entry clearance applications can be made up to three months before the start of your course but no earlier. If your spouse and children also need to apply for visas as your dependants, make sure that you download the PBS Student Dependants Visa Application Checklist from the above website as well. NOTE ON ORIGINALS/TRANSLATIONS: All documents must be ORIGINALS and any documents not in English must also include a professional translation. Translations must include: confirmation that the translation is an ac curate reflection of the original, translator’s name, signature and date of translatio n, list of translator’s qualifications and translator’s contact details. If any of the information you supply is found to be fraudulent your visa will be rejected and you could be banned from entering the UK for 10 years.

� Application form Entry clearance: https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa/apply. Please also refer to our online guide to completing the online form: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/internationalstudents/immigration/tier4superguide/outside/step2/ Visa extension: Tier 4 (G) (https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa/extend-your-visa and our online guide: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/internationalstudents/immigration/tier4superguide/inside/step2/

� Passports You should submit any passport/s that you have ever used to enter the UK. If any of these passports has been lost or stolen, you will need to provide a police report and details of your initial trip to the UK.

� Photographs 2 UK passport photographs of yourself taken within the last month. These should be on white backgrounds and you should not smile.

� Fee Entry clearance: £310 in local currency / Visa extensions: £422 by credit/debit card online

� Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

The CAS is a unique reference number linked to a record created by the University in the Home Office IT system. It is used instead of a paper ‘Visa Letter’. If you are new to your course, you will have been sent a CAS number in a CAS statement email from the Admissions Office. The CAS statement email lists all of the information that has been uploaded to the Home Office system and you must check that this information is correct and inform pbsadmissions@exeter.ac.uk if it is not. Do NOT apply for your visa until you are sure that the correct information has been included in your CAS. The CAS statement does not need to be submitted with your application, but you must write the CAS reference number on your visa application form and the information given in the CAS statement will help you to answer some of the questions in the form. If you are applying to continue a course that you have already started, you will need to request your CAS from the International Student Support Office: sid@exeter.ac.uk

� Proof of qualifications Your CAS statement may list the qualifications you used to obtain your place at Exeter. If it does, you must include an ORIGINAL certificate or transcript for each of these qualifications and an official translation if it is not in English.

� Proof of finances – self-financed/financed by paren ts If you are self-financed (or financed by your parents) you must show that you have your first year’s tuition fees + £7,380 in cash funds in a bank account in your name. This money must remain in your bank account for at least 1 month before you apply for your visa . Your bank statement must be dated within the last month. It is extremely important that you do not drop below this total amo unt even for one day or your visa will be refused.

If you have a current tier 4 visa and you are applying to extend your visa for a course that you started more than 6 months ago OR you have a current Tier 4 visa for a course lasting more than 6 months that you have recently completed, you are required to show a lower amount of first year’s tuition fees + £1,640 . This is because the Home Office considers that you have already proved your ability to support yourself in the UK.

Parents’ bank statements can be used instead of your own if absolutely necessary. These must meet the above guidelines and you must also provide your original birth certificate + a letter of parental consent confirming that this money will be used for your studies. Official translations of these documents must be included if not in English.

The Home Office use the exchange rate quoted on the OANDA website: www.oanda.com/convert/classic If you have paid any tuition fees to the University, including a tuition fee deposit (see http://www.exeter.ac.uk/postgraduate/admissions/offers/deposit/), the amount received will be shown on your CAS. Your bank statement will then need to show the total fees minus this amount.

� Proof of finances – sponsored

If you are financially sponsored by your government, your employer or another scholarship agency, you must provide a letter from your sponsor confirming the details of your sponsorship including the amounts and when it will finish. This should be on official letterhead paper and stamped by the sponsor. If you have a studentship from the University, this should be evidenced in your CAS. You do not have to provide any personal bank statements if your sponsorship covers all of your tuition fees and at least the required amount of living expenses finance detailed above.

� ATAS People who want to study at advanced levels within certain subject areas must obtain clearance certificates under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS), before they make any immigration application to study, or extend their study period, in the UK. Further information about the scheme is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: https://www.gov.uk/academic-technology-approval-scheme . Your CAS statement will state whether or not you require an ATAS certificate. This only affects certain subject areas (in particular Computer Science, Physics and Engineering at Exeter) but all Masters and PhD students should check whether or not the requirement applies to them. You must apply for your ATAS certificate (via the above website) at least 4-6 weeks before you will apply for your visa. The certificate will be emailed to you and must be printed and included with your visa application.

� Police Registration certificates If you are already studying in the UK, and you are required to register with the police, you must submit an up-to-date police registration certificate including current visa status and address (this is not a requirement if you are applying for entry clearance.

� TB certificate

Entry clearance: If you are a person from a country listed in Appendix T Part 1 making an application for entry clearance to come to the UK for more than six months, you must present a valid medical certificate confirming that you have been tested for TB. The Home Office should not request any additional documents except in exceptional circumstances. Please contact the International Student Support Office if you have any questions about the visa application process or any problems with your application.

For more information ask SID through your MyExeter portal