Student visa requirements

Find out about student visa requirements.

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

A Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number is a unique reference number. It's issued by the University. It provides confirmation that you've been unconditionally accepted onto a course at NTU. You'll need it before you can make your Student visa application.

Your CAS number verifies:

• your personal details,
• your passport information,
• your course details,
• payments made towards your tuition fees.

Who needs a CAS number

All students applying for a student visa in order to study at NTU need a CAS number. A CAS is valid for six months from the date it's issued. It can only be used once.

How to get a CAS number

Different teams at NTU will issue your CAS depending on your circumstances. See the table below to find out which department you should contact for enquiries.

Information for continuing students requesting a CAS from NTU

You might need a student visa to continue a course you've already started. If so, our International Student Support (ISS) service will issue your CAS.

Before issuing a CAS, they liaise with other departments to get the information they need. These can include, but are not limited to:

• the Academic Schools,
• Academic Registry,
• Finance.

ISS will issue your CAS in the following circumstances.

• You started your course remotely. You now need to travel to the UK for classes, and your original CAS has expired.
• You're a PhD candidate and you need extra time to complete your thesis.
• You need to extend your visa because:
  • you have resits or referrals with full-time attendance and can't complete them before your current visa expiry date, or
  • you can't complete your course before your current visa expiry date due to previous resits or referrals.
• You're switching from a full-time to a sandwich course.
• You began your course on another type of visa (e.g. dependant) and now need a student visa to finish it.
• You're returning to the UK to complete your course after:
  • a period of deferral
  • a Break in Study
  • repeating without attendance.
• You're an EU student and need a student visa to finish their course from within the UK, but you're not eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme.

In all cases, ISS will only issue a CAS if you meet all the following requirements.

• You must be in full-time attendance and meet the student visa attendance requirements.
• You must give ISS a copy of your current visa and passports.
• You must not have any tuition fee debt, and your NTU account must be 'active'.
• You must not spend over five years studying at degree level due to extending your visa.
• If you're applying from outside the UK, you must:
  • meet the UKVI financial requirements, and
  • provide ISS with financial evidence which meets the UKVI criteria (unless you benefit from the differential evidence requirement), and ensure there's time to make your visa application and return to the UK before your course start date, and
  • provide ISS with evidence you have left the UK (if you have been advised that you must apply for your visa from overseas)
• If you're applying from inside the UK and you've been in the UK for less than 12 months, you must:
  • meet the UKVI financial requirements, and
  • provide ISS with financial evidence that meets the UKVI criteria (unless you benefit from the differential evidence requirement), and
  • meet this requirement no later than five working days before your visa expires. This requirement also applies to students who qualify for 'differentiation arrangements'.
• Where you're moving between academic years or stages:
  • the Academic School must confirm that the student is scheduled to progress. This is via exam board confirmation.

Additional requirements for students requiring ATAS certificates

If you're a postgraduate student in certain subject areas, you must:

• provide a valid ATAS certificate, or
• show evidence you've applied for one.

We can then issue your CAS.

ISS cannot issue you a CAS in the following circumstances

If you overstay your visa

If you become an overstayer, we'll only issue a CAS if:

• the period of overstay, or your situation, wouldn't lead to automatic refusal of your visa application.

You can get further guidance on this from our International Student Support Service.

Timescales and processing times

If you're making your application from overseas, you should:

• request your CAS three months before your studies are due to resume.

If you're making your application in the UK, you should:

• request your CAS three months before your visa is due to expire.

Once ISS gets your CAS request, it will:

• liaise with both the student and different University departments,
• gather the required details and correct supporting documentation,
• issue your CAS within five working days of receiving all the relevant information.

There may be delays between the CAS being requested and actually being issued. This can occur in circumstances including:

• waiting for an exam board to meet to confirm progression on the course,
• waiting for student records to be set up for the next period of study.

We'll regularly update you on the progress of your CAS requests. If we're waiting for details from you, we'll send weekly reminders by email. We could need information like:

• financial evidence,
• passport details.

CAS withdrawal

In all cases, the University reserves the right to withdraw a CAS if:

• it's no longer possible to maintain immigration sponsorship of the student,
• we're not satisfied that you've met the Student visa application requirements. This includes situations where:
  • there are doubts over the authenticity of documents provided to the University.

Further information

Please contact the International Student Support Service for further information.

Financial evidence for student visa applications

All students need sufficient funds for living costs and tuition fees. This is called the 'financial requirement'. UKVI has specific requirements about how you can prove you meet this requirement.

You must meet the financial requirement if:

• you're applying from outside the UK, or
• you've been in the UK for less than 12 months when you apply for your student visa.

Students automatically meet the financial requirement if:

• you're applying from within the UK, and you've already been in the UK for 12 months.

To meet the financial requirement, you need evidence that you have the following:

Students studying a course at NTU or Confetti Nottingham:

• Enough money to cover the outstanding tuition fees for the first or current year of your course. This is shown on your CAS.
• Another £1,023 per month of your course for your living costs, up to a maximum of £9,207.

Students studying a course at Confetti London:

• Enough money to cover the outstanding tuition fees for the first or current year of your course. This is shown on your CAS.
• Another £1,334 per month of your course for your living costs, up to a maximum of £12,006.

You must make sure that:

• you have sufficient funds, and
• your documents include all the required details.

If not, your application is likely to be refused.

Any document not written in English must be accompanied by a translation. This must be a fully certified translation by a professional translator.

Using your own or your parents' money

Original bank statements and letters

You must have enough money to cover both your outstanding tuition fees and your living costs. You must have it saved up for at least 28 consecutive days before you submit your visa application.

The bank statements must be dated within 31 days of the date you submit your application. If the funds are held in an overseas currency, UKVI will use the OANDA currency converter, if you want to use the Syrian Pound of the Iranian Rial to meet the financial requirement, you need to use the FCDO Consular Exchange Rate (CER), not OANDA.

For your funds to be acceptable, your account must be held in a bank that:

• uses electronic record-keeping,
• is regulated by the appropriate regulatory body it is operating under, and
• is somewhere UKVI can make verification checks.

Your funds should be in a personal account where they can be accessed immediately. This could include:

• current accounts,
• deposit accounts,
• savings accounts,
• pensions from which the funds can be withdrawn,
• investment accounts.

See the Home Office financial requirements to find out what UKVI deems acceptable. Funds held in other accounts or financial instruments such as shares, bonds, credit cards, pensions from which the funds cannot be withdrawn immediately, regardless of notice period, will not be accepted as evidence of funds.

Your evidence from the bank should be in the form of a letter or a bank statement. It must be printed on official stationery and include:

• the name of the account holder,
• the account number,
• the date of the statement,
• details about the bank UKVI can use to verify the information provided, such as:
  • a branch code
  • other contact details.

Bank statements should show transactions covering a period of at least 28 days. There must be sufficient funds to meet the financial requirement on each day.

A letter from the bank can confirm the balance and the length of time the funds have been saved.

If you are using your parents' financial evidence

You may be using your parent's bank statements or bank letter. If so, you must provide one of the following additional documents:

• a birth certificate showing the names of your parents,
• a certificate of adoption showing the names of both parents or legal guardians,
• a court document naming your legal guardian.

You must then also provide an original signed and dated letter from your parent or parents. This must confirm that:

• they are your parents, and
• they have given their consent to the funds being available for you to study in the UK.

Loan letter

You may rely on a loan to meet the financial requirement if it is:

• provided by a government,
• provided by a government-sponsored student loan company,
• part of an academic or educational loans scheme.

The loan must be in your own name, not that of your parents. You must provide a letter from the lender. The letter must include the following information and meets the following requirements. It must:

• be dated less than 6 months before you apply for your visa,
• confirm the following details:
  • your name
  • the date
  • the financial institution's name and logo
  • the amount of money available as a loan
• confirm the loan is provided by a relevant:
  • government or government-sponsored student loan company, or
  • an academic or educational loans scheme
• confirm there are no conditions on the release of the funds to you except your student visa application being successful,
• confirm the funds will be available to you before you travel to the UK, unless they are:
  • being paid directly to NTU, or
  • being provided by a national government, and will be available to you before the course starts.

Students who have an official financial sponsor

Only the following organisations may be defined as an official financial sponsor:

• the UK government,
• the student's national government,
• the British Council,
• any international organisation, international company, university or UK independent school.

The immigration rules don't specify what information must be in your confirmation letter. You should make sure it includes the following information to meet the requirements. The letter must:

• state that you are the recipient,
• include the name and contact details of your official financial sponsor,
• show the date of the sponsorship, and its duration,
• state the amount of money, or confirm the sponsor will cover all course and living costs,
• be printed on official letter-headed paper or stationery.

Your financial sponsor may not cover all your tuition fees and / or living costs. If so, you must also provide a bank statement. This must showing you have the funds to cover the outstanding financial requirement.

Financial evidence that is not accepted

• Bank statements from relatives other than the student's parents.
• Bank statements in a company’s name.
• Sponsorship letters written by a local (not international) company or organisation.
• Sponsorship letters written by a family member.

Differentiation arrangement for 'low-risk applicants'

See UKCISA's information on 'low-risk applicants' to check your eligibility.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

If you're studying a postgraduate course, you may need an ATAS clearance certificate. You'll have to apply for this before making your student visa application.

This document is issued by the UK government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It gives you security clearance to study certain subject areas. Namely, ones that may be applicable to the development of weapons of mass destruction.

The ATAS scheme affects only a small number of NTU courses, including, PhD, MPhil, and MRes. Taught masters programmes, e.g. MSc, aren't affected. If you're a new student, you must get your ATAS certificate before we can issue your CAS. Our Admissions team will tell you if this is necessary.

You're exempt from the ATAS requirement if:

• you're applying for a student visa, and
• you're a national of:
  • the EU
  • the EEA
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Japan
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Switzerland
  • the United States of America.

When you will need an ATAS certificate

You must apply for ATAS clearance if you're:

• a new student
• a continuing student who needs to extend your visa mid-course.

How to apply for an ATAS certificate

ATAS applications are free of charge. Full details as to how to apply and the application form are on the FCO website.

Before you apply, we'll give you a letter that includes:

• the CAH3 code of your course,
• further details about the research you'll be undertaking.

When to apply for an ATAS certificate

If you're starting a new course, you must get your ATAS certificate to meet the conditions of your offer.

Once you've met all the conditions, you'll receive a CAS. You'll then be able to make your visa application. You'll need to include your ATAS certificate with your visa application.

If you're a continuing student who needs to extend your visa mid-course:

• you must get a new ATAS certificate before making your visa extension application.

ATAS certificates are valid for six months. It's most likely you'll need to apply for a new one for each visa application you make.

It will take at least 30 working days to process your ATAS application. During the peak period (April to September), it could take longer. Make sure you apply well in advance of the date you intend to make your visa application, as there is no fast-track service for this type of application.

Translation requirements for documents not in English

You must supply a certified translation of any documents not in English or Welsh. These must be from a professional translator or translation company that UKVI can verify. This translation must include:

• confirmation from the translator or translation company that it's an accurate translation of the document,
• the date of the translation,
• the full name and signature of the translator, or of an official of the translation company,
• the contact details of the translator or translation company.

If you need details of local translation companies in and around Nottingham, please contact us.