Apply from outside the UK

You should apply in your country or region of nationality or the country where you normally live if this is different. It is not usually possible to apply from a country you are visiting temporarily.

Applications should be made:

• before you travel to the UK
• no more than six months before the start of your course
• no more than six months after the date your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is issued.

You must apply for a UK visa online.

The application process should take between 45 and 60 minutes to complete. You are able to save the form and return to it at any time.

The visa application fee is £558, usually paid as the equivalent in your local currency.  

Priority services may be available. Check with the Visa Application Centre in the country or region in which you plan to apply.

Applications for visas that are more than six months long will also include an Immigration Health Surcharge. The cost of this is based on the length of the visa that you are applying for.

This charge is in addition to the visa application fee and separate from the maintenance requirements of the visa application.

You will be asked to pay as part of the online visa application. It is not possible to complete the visa application without also paying the Immigration Health Surcharge.

EEA/Swiss nationals with EHIC cards or S1 certificates may be eligible for a refund of the IHS. See GOV.UK for further information.

View the full list of documents that you will need to provide as part of your visa application process.

Anyone applying for a student visa outside the UK is likely to be interviewed. This is to establish that you are a genuine student and that your English language ability is at the correct level.

A UK Visas and Immigration member of staff will ask you questions and a report of the interview will be sent to the Entry Clearance Officer who makes the decision on your visa application.

Interview instructions may be sent by email, so regularly check the email address you have provided with your application. The interview may take place when you attend a visa application centre to give your biometric information and submit your documents, but may also take place by telephone or video conference.

To prepare for your credibility interview and for further information on what to expect, please see our guide to credibility interviews

As part of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) production you may be asked to participate in a UWE Bristol Pre CAS Interview with a member of our staff. This will help you think about what you need to know before joining UWE Bristol.

Students from some countries and regions are required to provide a medical certificate confirming that they are clear of tuberculosis, if they are coming to the UK for more than six months. See an overview of the health requirements on the UKVI website.

If you are under 18 years old you must only apply under the Student route. UWE Bristol does not sponsor applicants under the 'Child Student' route.

If your application is refused, you will be notified by UKVI. You must immediately forward the notification to the Admissions Team at international@uwe.ac.uk. Remember to quote your Welcome ID number. 

Administrative Review

You may be able to challenge the refusal by requesting Administrative Review (AR). Your refusal will tell you whether AR is allowed and how to proceed. AR is advisable only if you think there has been an error in processing your visa application, i.e. a case worker failed to apply the immigration rules properly.

An immigration adviser will be happy to look at your refusal and offer their opinion of whether overturning the decision is realistic.

Credibility refusals

Credibility refusals, in which the case worker determines that you are not a genuine student, are usually based on your interview. If you are requesting an Administrative Review of a credibility refusal, you should obtain your interview transcript before going ahead. You can request your interview transcript using a Subject Access Review (SAR).

If you would prefer an immigration adviser to submit this request on your behalf, please email immigrationadvice@uwe.ac.uk.

Request an Administrative Review promptly

It can take up to a month to complete an SAR, and the AR deadline is 28 days after you receive the refusal. AR is free of charge outside the UK.

In the event that awaiting the transcript causes you to miss the AR deadline, you can still go ahead, citing a delay outside your control. A late request can be accepted if it would be, ‘unjust not to waive the time limit,’ but this is not guaranteed.

The Administrative Review process is very time consuming and can take several months to complete. The decision will either:

• uphold the original refusal, or
• refer the application back to the case worker to re-consider. You may even be interviewed again.

A further refusal for new reasons is possible at this point.

AR is not a mechanism which will rapidly reverse a visa refusal and allow you to reach the UK in time for a course starting within weeks.

CAS

In some cases an applicant can request a second CAS for a further visa application, time permitting. The decision to grant a second CAS is at the discretion of the University.

If you have requested Administrative Review, your request will be treated as withdrawn if you submit another visa application.

Even if you defer entry, it is still worthwhile overturning an incorrect refusal using AR. Removing a visa refusal from your record will make future UK visa applications much more straightforward.