Visa information

This note is designed to give an overview of the UK visa system in general, and to explain recent changes.  The regulations can change quickly, so we cannot guarantee that the information shown here is always completely up to date.  It is therefore intended for guidance only.  You may like to check with your local Embassy or Consulate to check if there have been any changes.

This note is concerned only with adults, as we do not have any courses for children.

Overview – the process of applying for a visa

A: Geography: different visa status for different nationalities

B: The different types of visa

C: What you must do when you apply for a course

D: Other important details

For visa purposes, the world is divided into 3 areas:

A 1. EU/EEA/Switzerland

If you are a citizen of one of these countries you can come and go as you please.   You can ignore all these notes about visas.

Please click here to view a list of these countries.

A 2. Visa nationals (VN)

If you are a VN you need a visa to enter the UK for any reason, and must get it before you leave home (this is called ‘pre-entry clearance’).

Please click here to view a list of VN countries.

A 3. Non-visa nationals (NVN)

If you are a NVN you need a visa, but can get a Student Visitor Visa on arrival.  See B2, below, for more about this.   If you want a General Student Visa, you must get it before you leave home.

Please click here to view a list of NVN countries.

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There are three main types of visa which concern us:

B 1.  General Student Visa (GSV)

1.1  Who should choose a GSV?

This is the right visa for you if you are coming for a longer course.  It is the only one suitable if you plan to stay for more than 6 months.  It may also be appropriate if you are going to do a short course but plan to study elsewhere afterwards.

1.2  What must I have to get a GSV?

You need three things: 

1. Acceptance from a school on the UKBA Sponsor register (we are, of course).  This takes the form of a Certificate of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).  A CAS is not a piece of paper – it is a reference number which we will send you, which you must quote on your visa application.  See section C for what we need to issue a CAS.  
2. Evidence that you have enough money to pay your fees and to live while you are in the UK.  For living costs, you must show £800 for each month of your studies, up to a maximum of 9 months. You can prove you have the money if:
   • You have already paid it to us, or
   • You have cash in an account in your name (this includes joint accounts with your  name).  You must have this money in your bank account for 28 days before you apply for your visa, or
   • You have a loan in your name, or
   • You have official financial or government sponsorship.
3. Proof that you are at a qualifying level of English (see 1.5). You do not need to prove that you have a good reason to study. Acceptance by the school is enough.

When you register for a course here we will send you your CAS number, and also a CAS statement.  The CAS statement is not an official document – it just summarises what we have put on the CAS so that you can make sure that your application says the same thing.  At the moment is seems that some visa officers are asking to see the CAS statement, but this is not in fact necessary.

1.3  Applying for a GSV

You must always get a GSV in advance (this is true for both visa nationals and non-visa nationals).  You must provide fingerprints (biometric data) and must therefore attend a visa issuing post in person (the visa issuing process may take place elsewhere).

If you are using an agent in your own country they will help you with the visa application.  If you are applying personally, you can find the form you need by clicking here.

1.4  The cost

As from 6 April 2010 it costs £199.

1.5  Restrictions on who can have one

Unless you are sponsored by your government, you cannot get a GSV if you are below an intermediate level of English - a GSV is only available if you are following a course which is at Common European Framework level B2 or above.  This means that you must already be B1. See section D2, below, for more about this.

If your level is too low for a GSV you can start with a Student Visitor Visa (SVV), study for 6 months and then apply for a GSV.  By this time your level should be good enough but you must also prove that you have attended regularly and made good progress.   You will have to go home and apply for a GSV there.  You cannot change a SVV to a GSV in the UK.   See section B2, below, for more about a SVV.

1.6  What does a GSV look like? 

A GSV is a piece of paper stuck into your passport. It will have both the first date of validity and also the end date printed on it. When you enter the country the date of entry will be stamped on it, although this does not affect the dates it is valid.  A GSV has the number of the sponsoring school printed on it.  It is only valid for study at that school.  See D1 below for more about this.

1.7  How long does a GSV last?

A GSV will be granted for the length of the course, plus some time for you to pack up and leave.  For a course of less than 6 months this extra period is only 7 days.  If you might want to take some holiday while you are in the UK it’s important to plan for this when you book.  We can then allow for this in your acceptance certificate. For a course of more than 6 months the extra time allowed is 2 months so this is not so important.

1.8  Renewing a GSV

A GSV can be renewed, but only if you have attended at least 80% of classes. It is the only sort of study visa which can be renewed, so get a GSV if you are booking for less than 6 months but think that you may want to stay for more than 6 months, or if you are doing a course with us but plan to move on to study elsewhere afterwards (or if you are going to study elsewhere, and then move to us).  But remember that you will need a new visa to change school - see D1 and D3 for more about this.

1.9  Working

A GSV is the only sort of study visa which gives a right to work.  If you are staying for less than 1 year you can work 10 hours/week at any time, and full-time in holiday periods.  If you are staying for more than 1 year you can work 20 hours/week at any time, and full-time in holiday periods.  We limit holidays to a maximum of 20% of your total booking.   If you want to do work experience this must usually be done using a different system.  Currently this is rather complicated, but if you are interested please contact us for more information.

B 2.  Student Visitor Visa (SVV)

A SVV is not part of the Points Based System.

A visa national may find it difficult to get a GSV for a short course, and may have to apply for a SVV.

2.1  What is a SVV?

A SVV is not a sort of student visa – it is a sort of visitor’s visa. It does not have the benefits of a student visa.  A SVV lasts a maximum of 6 months, does not give the right to work, and cannot be renewed.

2.2  Getting a SVV

If you are a visa national you will need to get your SVV before you leave your country.   

If you are a non-visa national you can get a SVV free when you arrive in the UK.  You will just have to produce your acceptance certificate from us.  This usually works fine.

2.3  Applying in your own country

If you are a visa national you must always apply for your SVV before you leave home.  You must have a visa support letter from us and show that you have enough money to pay your course and live on.  You will have to do biometrics and pay the appropriate fee.  You will probably have to prove that you have a good reason for learning English and persuade the Entry Clearance Officer that you will return home after the course.  In some cases, depending on your nationality, you may find this difficult.

If you are a non-visa national you do not need to apply for a SVV before you come to the UK.  You can just get it free on arrival.   If you want to be 100% certain you can get it in advance in your own country but in this case you will need to provide biometrics and will need to pay for it (although it’s cheaper than a GSV).

If you are using an agent in your own country they will help you with the visa application.  If you are applying personally, you can find the form you need by clicking here. 

2.4  Getting a SVV on arrival

This is only possible if you are a non-visa national.  You must:

• book a course before you come to the UK

• bring your course acceptance papers, including a SVV support letter, to show at immigration when you arrive

• ask for a Student Visitor Visa at immigration.

If you are a visa national you must get your visa before you leave home.

2.5  What does a SVV look like?

If you get a SVV before you leave home it will look very like a GSV but will include the word ‘visitor’ as well as ‘student’.  If you get it on arrival it will just be an entry stamp. This is still a visa. The only difference between a SVV and a Visitor Visa (see below) is that something like ‘VST’ will be written by hand on the stamp. The date of validity is based on the date of entry, so it is important to check that carefully.

2.6  How long does a SVV last?

6 months.

2.7  Are there any level restrictions?

No.  A SVV is available for people at any level of English. It is the only study visa available if you are below intermediate level.

2.8  Working

You are not allowed to work if you have a SVV.

B 3.  Visitor visa (VV)

3.1  What is a VV?

This is a basic right to enter the UK, typically used by people coming here on holiday.

3.2  Can I do a course if I have a VV?

No.  You are not allowed to study if you only have a VV, so it is very important that you
get a Student Visitor Visa instead. For this, see B2 above.

B 4.  Other types of visa

If you have a diplomatic visa you can study without any problems. 

If you have a business visa you can do short training courses related to your work.  This includes a business English course.

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1.  Tell us what sort of visa you want

If you need a visa to enter the UK you will need support from us, so you must tell us what sort of visa you intend to apply for.  Unless we know this we do not know what sort of support to send you. 

2.  Send us a copy of your passport

We need information from it to produce the support that we will send you.

3.  For a GSV, pay your tuition fees

If you want a GSV, you must pay all your tuition fees in advance.  We cannot issue a CAS until you have done this.  If you want a SVV we do not ask for full payment in advance, but you must pay a deposit in line with our normal Terms and Conditions.

4.  For a GSV, show how you will prove your level

If you want a GSV, we need to know how you will prove your level of English.   This is not necessary for a SVV. See D2 below for more about this.

5.  For a SVV, send us the information needed for a SVV support letter

If you want a SVV we will need to send you a SVV support letter so we need certain information. To see a sample SVV visa letter, please click here.

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D 1.  The ‘single sponsor’ rule

This is a very important part of the Point Based System, but an inconvenient one.

To get a General Student Visa you must have what is called a sponsor – an organisation that is responsible for you.  If you study with us, we are your sponsor.  You can only have one sponsor – the organisation whose visa letter was used to obtain the visa.  If you want to do an English course with us and then go to another school, or to a university, you will have to get a new visa when you transfer to the next course.  In the same way, if you want to study somewhere else and then come to us, you will need to get a new visa.

The idea of a sponsor, with study limited to the school named on the visa, only applies to a GSV.  A SVV does not have these limitations.

D 2.  Proving level for a GSV.

As from 3 March 2010 you need to show that you are capable of following a course at Common European Framework B2 level.  This does not mean that you must already be at B2 level – it is enough to be at B1.

B1 is defined as:

Can understand the main points of familiar matters in everyday situations such as work, school, leisure, etc.   Can deal with most situations while travelling.  Can produce simple connected text on familiar topics.   Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans

B1 is about IELTS 4.0, TOEIC 500 and Cambridge PET. 

There are various ways that you can prove that you are at this level. For example:

• a public examination or an officially accepted on-line test.
• proof of your achievement on previous English study.
• a personal test and interview in the school (if you are already in the UK)

If the proof is not in English you will need to submit an authenticated translation.

If these are not available, you will probably be able to use one of the following, but we cannot guarantee that they will always be accepted:

• Our on-line test.  You will have to do this under supervised conditions to prove that the level it shows is your real level.
• A telephone interview with us.  We may need to do this using a webcam so that we can be sure that we are really speaking to the right person.

It is important that you tell us how you will prove your level when you apply for your course.  We must refer to this on the CAS, and you must then submit the original of the same document with your visa application.  

D 3.  Renewing your visa

If you have a GSV you can renew it in the UK.  To do this you will need:

• A CAS for your next or continuing course
• Proof that you have attended at least 80% of the lessons of the course that you have been doing.
• Proof that you have made good progress.
• £1600 for your living costs (£800/month for 2 months – this is all you have to show, even if your course will be longer than 2 months).

As long as your attendance and progress has been satisfactory, we can give you all the documents you need if you are applying to renew your visa in order to continue to study with us.

 D 4.  Procedures when you start your course with us

Please make sure that you bring your passport or ID with you to school on the first day.  If you do not need a visa, we must check this.  If you do need a visa, we need to check that you have one, and take a copy of it. 

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