Visa info for offer holders

If you're not a UK or Irish national and would like to know if you need a visa to study in the UK, you can use this Gov.uk tool to find out. There is also a page here for EEA nationals.

Note that whether or not you need a visa, all 2024 entry offer holders who are not UK or Irish nationals must complete the visa questions form and upload tool in the section below - even if you know that you do not need a visa, we will need the necessary information to confirm this. 

Please could ALL students who are not UK or Irish nationals complete the visa questions and upload form by 9 February in the year you are due to start at Christ's. This will collect information and any documents that are relevant to you (pdf files please). If you do not need a visa the information collected will assist us in confirming this.

Before working on each form, you will need to ensure that you have the relevant documents saved as pdf files on your computer with the correct file names.

• If you have a phone, you may find that you can use CamScanner to do this - it's an app that turns a phone into a scanner and allows you to save the image as a pdf.
• Alternatively you could take a photo of your document, insert it into a Word or other text document, save it as a pdf and then upload it.

There is a separate page for passport upload and for the visa documents and upload form the file name formats should be:

13.5 - Subject - LAST NAME First name - Previous visa - UCAS Personal ID (no dashes)

e.g. for the fictional Ruchi Lim with dual nationality, it might be
13.5 - Economics - LIM Ruchi - Previous visa - 1082846382

The University of Cambridge has an International Students website which gives a great deal of support to students coming to study from outside the UK. In particular, you will find clear instructions regarding the process of applying for a Student visa.

After you have completed the 9 February forms, we will be in touch if we have any questions.

The International Student Office (university-wide) provides guidance for students and we will send any information to you as soon as it becomes available.

Please note that Colleges do not provide any advice on student visa applications and all enquiries will be referred to the International Student Office. We advise that you contact the International Student Office (international.students@admin.cam.ac.uk) directly for questions relating to visas. They provide a very useful Visa Advice Service offering free, confidential advice on a range of student-related immigration matters. 

Undergraduates applying for an integrated masters degree which requires ATAS clearance will receive instructions directly from the International Student Office by email. For undergraduate students, this only applies to offer holders for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

These emails are normally sent in May/June (roughly - we cannot confirm a precise date). Information about ATAS is available, but don't worry - the email you receive will tell you everything you need to know.

It is important to check in advance the financial requirements that you will need to meet when you receive your CAS (see section below) and make your visa application. Part of this application will require you to prove you have enough funds to cover your tuition, college and maintenance fees.

We recommend that you read the Financial requirements section of the International Student website which provides guidance on the criteria your financial evidence must meet to support your student visa application. The University also has a useful student visa Financial Checker where you can find out what financial evidence will be required based on your individual circumstances.

When you have met all the conditions of your offer (depending on the case, these include academic grades, English Language qualification if required, and satisfactory financial guarantee and evidence documents), the International Student Office will send you by email your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). The CAS is a unique number, relevant only to you and to the course you will undertake at Cambridge. You will need to enter your CAS number in the relevant section of your Student Visa application. You cannot apply for your Student Visa without your CAS, and we cannot issue the CAS before all your offer conditions have been met.

The CAS confirms the University is sponsoring you for your Student Visa. You should ensure that you understand your responsibilities whilst holding a student visa.

• You should CHECK the details in your CAS carefully once you receive it. Your CAS will include details which must match those on our passport (i.e. names as they appear on your passport, date of birth, sex, passport number, birth country and nationality). The International Student Office obtains the CAS number from the UK Home Office having provided these details. If you find any errors you must let the International Students Office who sent you your CAS know immediately. They will issue a corrected CAS before you make your student visa application. Further detail.
   
• A CAS can only be used for one visa application. If your student visa application is refused, you must request a new CAS. This will only be issued upon receipt of your full refusal notice and if the University is satisfied you will be able to meet the requirements for a new visa application.
   
• The International Student Office begin to issue the CAS statements from June 2024 to students who have already met all conditions by then. Please bear in mind that it will take the International Student Office time to produce the CAS for each student who needs one - this will not be immediate. Please be patient, they WILL get your CAS to you by email as quickly as possible. Any updates will be on their Twitter Feed. Please do not email to ask when you will receive your CAS.
   
• The University can only sponsor you with a CAS once you have met all of the conditions of your offer, whether academic or non-academic. Therefore, you might not receive your CAS until the end of August (for example, if your offer is conditional on A-levels).
   
• A level / STEP results day: After results are released in summer 2024 the International Student Office prepares the CAS for those who have met academic conditions based on A level / STEP and other results published at this time. Please note that we cannot tell you exactly when you will receive your CAS email (remember that these are not processed by Christ's College). Please be patient, the International Students Team WILL get your CAS to you by email as quickly as possible.

Once you have your CAS email, you will need to apply for your visa. The information is different for different students so please make sure you follow the correct link to read the information about applying for a visa that is relevant to you: 

There's a lot of information in the links above, including a guidance document to help you with the online student visa entry clearance application form. Remember also that the the International Student Office provides a visa advice service, offering further assistance on applying for a student visa as well as information on related areas of immigration. 

It is very important that you apply for your visa in good time before the start of your course to account for any visa delays which may disrupt your arrival. We recommend that you apply for your visa as soon as you are able to. 

If you are under 18, the International Student Office will provide some additional guidance and instructions on applying for your visa, in relation to parental consent and Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) collection.

To sum up what you need to do from January in the year you are due to start your course if you require a Student Visa to study in Cambridge