UKCISA - international student advice and guidance - Making a Tier 4 (General) application in the UK

Can you apply in the UK?

Last modified: 26 November 2019

First, check that the start date of your new course of studies (as stated on your CAS) is no more than 28 days after the end of your current visa. If the start date is later, you must leave the UK and apply from your home country.

Next, you must currently have Tier 4 (General) student leave for a course sponsored by or previously sponsored by one of these types of Tier 4 sponsor (see how your sponsor is described on the Register of Tier 4 sponsors):

a higher education provider with a track record of compliance; or
an overseas higher education institution and you have been doing a short-term study abroad programme in the UK; or
an embedded college offering pathway courses (this does not include pre-sessional courses); or
an independent school

If your Tier 4 sponsor does not meet one of these definitions you must return to your home country and apply for a new Tier 4 visa from there. If you are unsure, or if your Tier 4 visa has now expired, ask your Tier 4 sponsor for advice.

Alternatively, you must have Tier 2 or Tier 4 (Child) student leave.

Students who have previously been granted Tier 4 (General) student leave must also meet the academic progress requirement, or be exempt from it, in order to apply in the UK. For information about how the Home Office defines 'academic progress', see the Tier 4 policy guidance.

As long as you apply to extend your Tier 4 leave in the UK prior to the expiry of your current visa, you will be lawfully resident in the UK regardless of the length of time it takes for the Home Office to make a decision on your application.

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Syrians

Dependants of diplomats

Where, when, how to apply

Last modified: 09 October 2019

After you have checked whether you are able to make a Tier 4 (General) student application in the UK, you need to prepare for the process.

The Home Office has introduced a new system of making a Tier 4 (General) application in the UK. As of 25 March 2019, those wishing to extend their stay in the UK must use the new application process. The new application process has replaced the old application process in which biometric information was submitted at participating Post Offices. As of 25 March 2019, the Post Office option will no longer be available.

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How to apply

Under the new system, you submit your application online, pay the immigration health surcharge fee, biometric enrolment fee (currently £19.20) and the application fee.

After you have submitted the online application, you will be directed to Sopra Steria's website to book an appointment at either a UKVCAS core service centre or at an enhanced service centre. Attendance at a UKVCAS core service centre will be free of charge, attending an enhanced service centre will incur an additional charge. We understand the additional charge to be between £60 to £125 depending on the selection of a prime time/non-prime time slot or weekend appointment.

You can scan and upload your documents prior to your appointment or with assistance at your appointment. If you choose to scan and upload your documents prior to your appointment, we recommend taking a hard copy of all your original documents to your appointment in case there have been any issues uploading your documents.

If you choose to scan your documents at one of UKVCAS' core appointment centres with assistance from UKVCAS, there will be a charge for doing so. We understand that the charge for this service is currently £45 per person for all appointments booked after 22 July 2019. The document scanning service remains part of the service if you attend an enhanced service point appointment, Premium Lounge, or are using a Mobile Pop-up or the VIP service.

You will be able to leave your appointment with all your original documents as you are no longer required to submit original documents with your application. Although your original passport will be returned to you at your appointment, you should not travel outside the UK until you receive a decision on your application, unless you want to withdraw your application (please see the section on Travelling outside the UK when your application is being decided).

Please refer to the link to the Home Office website for further guidance concerning the new application process.

When to apply

We advise you start preparing for your application at least two months before your current immigration permission ends, and longer if you need an ATAS clearance certificate. Some of your supporting evidence may take some time to obtain and you must be able to provide evidence that you meet all relevant requirements on the date of application, which is the day on which you pay the immigration fee as part of your online application (not the day on which you attend a centre).

A Tier 4 application for a new course must not be made more than three months before the start date as stated on your CAS. You should also usually wait until you have finished your first course before you make your application for leave to remain to study a second one.

If you are able to apply in the UK for more time to continue the course that you are already studying, for example a PhD, you can submit your application as soon as you meet all of the requirements.

The gap between the end of your current immigration permission and the start of your new course must not be more than 28 days.

Staying in the UK after the end date of your immigration permission without making a new application means you become an overstayer, which is a criminal offence. Becoming an overstayer can have serious consequences for any future immigration applications that you make, including applications for countries other than the UK.

If you are unable to apply before your current immigration permission ends you should leave the UK before this date and apply for entry clearance to return to the UK as a Tier 4 (General) student once you meet all of the requirements.

The Immigration Rules have some limited provision for an overstayer to make a Tier 4 application in the UK within 14 days of becoming an overstayer and if you can show a good reason for not applying in time. However, your Tier 4 sponsor must first decide whether they are willing to issue a CAS for such an application and, if they are willing to do that, what conditions they will attach. For example, they may not allow you to attend while you are an overstayer, and they may insist on you utilising the super priority service, at your own expense, in order for your to resume your studies with a new visa as soon as possible.

Some Tier 4 sponsors have a policy to not support applications by overstayers under any circumstances. They can withdraw your CAS if you have become an overstayer without using it in an application, and they may not be willing to issue a further CAS until you can show you have left the UK. It is important to understand your Tier 4 sponsor's policy on overstayers.

Therefore if you think that you are going to be unable to submit a Tier 4 application before your current permission expires you should speak to an adviser at your institution as soon as possible. If appropriate they should also be able to discuss with you whether or not you have a 'good reason' for making a late application; the threshold for this is very high.

Application fee

Immigration health surcharge

As of 8 January 2019, the charge is calculated at £300 per year for each year of leave that you are applying for. If your leave includes part of a year that is six months or less you will be charged an additional £150 for this period. If your leave includes part of a year that is more than six months, you will have to pay £300 for this period. For example, if your Tier 4 application is to allow you to do a further 12 months of study in the UK then you should be granted leave for an extra four months after your course end date and the immigration surcharge will therefore be £450.

If your new period of leave overlaps with the leave that you were previously granted then you will be entitled to a refund of the surcharge for this overlapping period of time, but only if you have paid the surcharge twice for the same period of time.

For example, if your previous visa was valid from 1 September 2017 until 1 February 2018 and you applied for a new visa in January 2018 for a course that started on 8 February 2018 and ends 30 September 2019, then the maximum period of leave you could be granted under the Immigration Rules is from 8 January 2018 until 30 January 2020 (that is one month before your course and four months after your course) and the IHS will be calculated accordingly. These two periods of time overlap between 8 January 2018 and 1 February 2018 (even if you are not granted your new visa until after this date) so you would be entitled to a refund of the IHS for this period, if you had paid it as part of your first visa application. However, in this example, if the previous visa was granted outside the UK and was less than six months long it did not include the IHS so there is no overlap in payment and you would not be eligible for a refund.

You can use the Immigration Health Surcharge tool on the Home Office website to check how much you will have to pay.

The Tier 4 application form calculates the amount that you need to pay and asks you to pay it before you can complete your Tier 4 application. Once you have done this you will receive an email containing your IHS reference number. This number will automatically be included on your Tier 4 application form cover sheet.

A very small number of people are exempt from paying the immigration health surcharge, including British Overseas Territory citizens who live in the Falkland Islands. See the Home Office website for more information about who does not have to pay the IHS.

Biometrics

Interview, Medical Checks

Submitting your application

Last modified: 09 October 2019

After you have completed and submitted the form online, paid the associated fees (immigration health surcharge, biometric enrolment fee and visa fee) you must select your mode of application. Mode of applications include the standard service, priority service, super priority service and the VIP service.

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Types of application

Technical support

After you apply

Travel outside the UK before you receive a decision

Application checklist

Last modified: 14 November 2018

This checklist is a summary of the steps involved in making a Tier 4 (General) application in the UK. We have included links to more detailed information and to external websites.

Choose institution and course
Apply for a place and receive an unconditional offer
Obtain a ‘Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies’ (CAS) number from your institution. A CAS is only valid for six months, you must make your visa application within this time.
Check that the gap between the end of your current leave and the course start date on your CAS is no more than 28 days. If it is you must go home and apply there.
Apply for ATAS clearance if applicable (some institutions may ask that you do this before they will issue a CAS)
Check that you meet the Tier 4 requirements
Make sure that you have all of the necessary evidence.
Complete the Tier 4 application form online. You can start completing the application form as early as you like; your application will not be made until you pay the application fee
Pay the immigration health surcharge, choose which type of application to make, pay the biometric enrolment fee and pay the application fee online – at this point you have made your application.
Book an appointment to attend either a UKVCAS service centre or an enhanced service centre in order to provide your biometrics.
Scan and upload your documents in advance of your appointment or at your appointment (there will be a charge for this). Make sure that all your evidence shows that you met the requirements on the day on which you submitted your online application.
Attend your appointment in order to provide your biometrics. If you have already uploaded your documents, you will need to bring your original passport to your appointment for identity purposes only. If you wish to scan all your documents at your appointment, bring all your original documents to the appointment. You will be able to take them away with you after your appointment.
Attend a credibility interview if you are asked to do so.
The Home Office will decide whether to grant or refuse your application. If your application has been refused you should contact an adviser at your institution as soon as possible.
If your application has been successful your biometric residence permit (BRP) will be sent to you separately by post.
Check that all of the details on your BRP are correct (including the conditions and length of leave), and show it to the relevant staff member at your institution so that they can update their records.
Update your police registration (if applicable) within seven days of the receipt of your new BRP.

Biometric residence permit (BRP)

Last modified: 09 August 2019

Evidence of your permission to be in the UK is issued as a biometric residence permit (BRP), separate from your passport. A BRP is a plastic card similar to a credit card which contains your personal information, your biometric information (photograph and fingerprints) and states your immigration status and some of your conditions.

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Receiving your BRP

Your biometric residence permit will be sent to you or your Tier 4 sponsor and someone will need to sign for it. You will also receive a letter and leaflet setting out some of the conditions to which your permission to be in the UK is subject.

As soon as you receive your BRP, check that all the information on it is correct:

your name and date of birth
that you are a Tier 4 (General) student
the Sponsor Licence Number (SLN) of the institution that you intend to study at
that the start and end dates of the permission are correct (see next section)
whether you can work (see Can you work? and How many hours a week can I work?)
for some students, the instruction to register with the police (see Police registration).

If there are any basic errors on your BRP such as your name, date of birth, or the sponsor's licence number, you should complete the online form on the Home Office website.

If you have been given the incorrect length of permission or the incorrect conditions (see Tier 4 conditions ) you may be able to request that the Home Office carries out an administrative review of the error and grant you the correct length of permission and/or the correct conditions. The deadline for making this application is within 14 calendar days of receiving your BRP and, if the Home Office agrees that it has made a mistake, it will refund your administrative review fee. Contact a student adviser at your institution as soon as you receive your BRP if you think you have been given the incorrect length of leave or the incorrect conditions on your immigration permission.

If you are changing institution and your new institution is a Probationary Sponsor, they will need to see your new leave to remain before you can enrol on your new course. They should tell you the latest date that you will be allowed to enrol on your course; this date might have been included in your CAS statement. Since 'standard' applications can take many weeks to be decided you might need to make a 'priority' or a 'super priority' application in order to obtain your new leave to remain before this latest enrolment date.

Make sure you contact your institution immediately if you think you will have a problem enrolling before the latest enrolment date. If you do not enrol as expected, your institution will be obliged to notify the Home Office.

Start and end dates

Your leave to remain will start when the Home Office grants your Tier 4 application. You must comply with all of the conditions attached to your immigration permission as a Tier 4 student from the date on which the Home Office informs you that your application has been successful.

Your biometric residence permit (BRP) will be sent to you by courier a week or two later. It will have an 'issue date', which is the date on which it was issued to you.

The date that your immigration permission ends will depend on the length and type of course. The Home Office will use the course dates listed on your CAS to calculate the length of your course; if you will be studying for part of a month, this will not be rounded up to a full month. For example, if your course will last 11 months and three weeks, it is not rounded up to 12 months.

Course	End of immigration permission
12 months or more	4 months after the end of the course
Masters 13 months or less at a Tier 4 pilot institution*	6 months after the end of the course
6 months or more, but less than 12 months	2 months after the end of the course
Pre-sessional course, less than 6 months**	1 month after the end of the course
Other course, less than 6 months	7 days after the end of the course
Postgraduate doctor or dentist on a Foundation Programme	1 month after the end of the course

* To check whether your sponsor is taking part in the Tier 4 pilot, see the Tier 4 Policy Guidance, annex 5

** If it is a pre-sessional course which will prepare you for degree-level study at the same institution (or at its partner institution), your sponsor may issue a single CAS for both courses. In this case your immigration permission will end after the main course, not after the pre-sessional.

Refusals

Last modified: 14 November 2018

If your Tier 4 application is refused, you will usually have the right to apply for administrative review of the refusal, which should be made clear in the decision notice. The Home Office will review its decision to see if it made a case working error. You should also apply for administrative review if the Home Office has granted you the incorrect length of immigration permission or placed incorrect conditions on your immigration permission.

You must meet the deadline for applying for administrative review, so seek advice from your Tier 4 sponsor or a lawyer as quickly as possible after you receive a refusal. Details of how to apply for administrative review are in the Tier 4 policy guidance.

When an application is refused, the Tier 4 application fee is not refunded. However, if you paid the immigration health surcharge (IHS) as part of your application this will be refunded in full.

You should tell your Tier 4 sponsor that your application has been refused so that you can receive help and advice about how this might affect your study and what your options might be.

Making a Tier 4 (General) application in the UK

Can you apply in the UK?

Syrians

Dependants of diplomats

Where, when, how to apply

How to apply

When to apply

Application fee

Immigration health surcharge

Biometrics

Interview, Medical Checks

Submitting your application

Types of application

Standard

Priority

Super Priority

VIP service

Technical support

After you apply

Travel outside the UK before you receive a decision

Application checklist

Biometric residence permit (BRP)

Receiving your BRP

Start and end dates

Refusals

About UKCISA

Useful links

Making a Tier 4 (General) application in the UK

Can you apply in the UK?

Where, when, how to apply

Submitting your application

Standard

Priority

Super Priority

VIP service

Application checklist

Biometric residence permit (BRP)

Refusals

Related content

About UKCISA

Useful links