Staff information

What is a Tier 4 Student Visa?

International students intending to study a full-time degree course in the UK can apply for this visa. Students often use the terms “Tier 4”, “Tier 4 Student” and “Student Visa” interchangeably.

A Tier 4 student visa allows a person to study at a specific educational institution on a specific course. The visa should cover the full length of a student’s course plus some extra time at the end. As most of our courses last over 12 months the student’s visa should expire 4 months after their course end date. Students on courses between 6-11 months in length, i.e. Top up courses, will be granted a visa expiring 2 months after their course end date.

Who should apply for a Tier 4 student visa?

Any student with a nationality from outside of the EU or EEA (European Union or European Economic Area) who wants to study a full time course inside the UK should apply for a Tier 4 student visa.

To be able to apply for this type of visa they must have:

• Enough funds or financial means to pay their fees and living costs in the UK
• An unconditional offer for their course including a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (or CAS number) – issued by the International Office
• ATAS Clearance (For certain Science and Engineering subjects)
• Some students will also need to have a health screening for TB

How do students apply for a Tier 4 Student Visa?

Unless applying inside the UK, students should apply in their home country via the methods described to them on the Home Office website.

The Immigration & Compliance team website also explains the Tier 4 visa application process. If students have applied to the University through one of University’s authorised overseas representative/agent, it is likely that the agent will be able to offer some assistance with the visa application process. However, in all cases the Immigration & Compliance team is happy to offer advice to the student if they email immigration@hud.ac.uk or call 01484 47 2917.

If the student is already in the UK, they should be referred to the Immigration & Compliance team as soon as possible to seek assistance from one of our trained visa advisers. We can then help them to submit their visa application to the Home Office (also known as UKVI). Please note that in most cases, the student will need to make a new visa application using a CAS issued by the International Office before they will be allowed to enrol.

University's Tier 4 Sponsor duties

To be able to recruit and teach International students the University must “sponsor” international students using a Tier 4 Sponsor licence granted by the Home Office. Without our Tier 4 sponsor licence we would not be able to continue to recruit or teach these students.

Maintaining the Tier 4 Sponsor Licence is essential for the University to continue recruiting and sponsoring International students. It is a statutory requirement for the University to comply with the terms of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, 2006. In addition to issuing the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to potential international students, holding a Tier 4 Sponsor Licence also entails additional compliance responsibilities in relation to sponsoring international students. The Home Office perform regular statistical analysis of our international student visa applications to ensure that the students who we are sponsoring are not regularly being refused visas or leaving the University unexpectedly.

We are also required to maintain up to date records for all our international students. The Home Office have the right to audit us at any time. It is therefore vital that all records are fully maintained.

When can the University issue a CAS?

By issuing a CAS, the University is sponsoring (accepting responsibility) for that student. We require the student to meet any academic or financial conditions of their offer of a course before issuing a CAS. Once a CAS has been issued we are responsible for informing the Home Office if:

• The student doesn’t arrive by the final enrolment date (including deferred entry)
• The student’s visa application is refused (for any reason)
• The student suspends their studies
• The student withdraws or we withdraw the student
• The student doesn’t attend satisfactorily
• The student changes their course
• The student starts a work placement or switches placements
• The student studies off campus (i.e. uses the facilities somewhere else regularly)
• The student completes their course ahead of schedule or takes a lower award ahead of the original end date

We must also inform the Home Office if we believe that the student has broken the conditions of their visa i.e. working more hours per week than they are permitted to.

If a student needs to stay on their course longer than originally planned or return after a period of suspension they will need a new CAS, and therefore they will need to apply for a new Tier 4 student visa.

What information does the University need to keep in accordance with our 

The University needs to keep and maintain the following data for all Tier 4 students in accordance with our Tier 4 Sponsor licence:

• A copy of their passport
• A copy of their visa, nationality and immigration status (or evidence of an extension application if their previous grant of leave has expired)
• Student’s UK contact address
• Student’s attendance record
• Details of any periods of absences (authorised or not)
• Placement details (address and dates)
• Copies of documents used to obtain an offer for the course

Depending on the student’s course and circumstances, we may be required to keep additional information on file.

Are there any post-study work options available to students?

Yes, there are currently four schemes running (there may be other visas available in some cases).

• Tier 2 (General) – a work visa linked to an employer who hires skilled workers and holds a Tier 2 sponsor license.
• Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme – for PhD students about to finish their course
• Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur – for University graduates who have a promising business idea
• Tier 5 – covers a multitude of short term, niche schemes and jobs

Click here for detail of these post-study visa schemes on the Immigration & Compliance team website

Students undertaking work placements

Tier 4 students are able to undertake work placements as long as these are an assessed part of their course. These cannot however, exceed 50% of the overall duration of their course. Work placements can be paid or unpaid and can be full time, even in term time.

Details of a Tier 4 student’s placement must be reported to the Home Office within 10 working days of us being informed of the placement. These details include the following:

• Name and address of placement provider;
• Hours of work per week;
• Start and finish date of the placement;
• A change in the work placement details.

Tier 4 students changing course

Changing course within the UK is not straightforward for Tier 4 students as they must meet certain immigration requirements before being permitted to switch courses and still remain on their current visa in the UK. In some cases, students may be required to return home and apply for a new visa for the new course, which can be costly and time consuming.

Course changes can also have an impact on student’s ATAS clearance certificate.

• If the student’s change of course has resulted in a change in JACS code, they will have to apply for a fresh ATAS clearance certificate.
• If the student was not required to obtain for an ATAS clearance for the previous course, the school must check if the new course is subject to ATAS clearance.

In general Tier 4 visa terms, we can justify changes in courses whilst keeping students in the UK on the same Tier 4 visa as long as they meet the following requirements:

1. The new course is at the same academic/NQF level.
2. The student can complete the new course within their current Tier 4 visa.
3. Students who have previously studied in the UK on a Tier 4 visa, we must also be able to confirm:
   1. The new/proposed course is related to previous course i.e. same subject group, or
   2. The previous and new course in combination support student’s genuine career aspirations

Due to these complex visa rules, the Immigration & Compliance Team has arranged for a prompt in the SMP system so colleagues in Schools can refer complex change of course requests to us before approving these via the SMP system.

Further students specific information about changes to study and their impact on student’s Tier 4 visa is available on the Immigration & Compliance team website.

Authorised and non-authorise absence

International students (with timetabled teaching sessions) are now unable to self-certify absences via phone or email. Students must therefore visit the attendance team within their School with appropriate documentary evidence explaining the reason for evidence (i.e. a doctor’s note). The attendance team will then update the details of absences on the attendance monitoring system.

It may however occasionally be necessary for a student to request a prolonged period of absence. absence i.e. maternity, bereavement, data collection. Students can in these cases can request from their School Office or School Research Administrator a printed “REQUEST FOR AUTHORISED ABSENCE” form (ASIS/SCE letter code: OS_AUTHABFM).

The student must complete the form clearly highlighting the reason for absence. The completed form must then be signed by the student’s tutor or supervisor before being sent to the Immigration & Compliance team (immigration@hud.ac.uk) for final approval. Where required, student must attach relevant documentary evidence. Following approval, the Immigration & Compliance team will email a confirmation letter to the student via email.

In most cases the absence will be approved if it fits within the defined time frame, as stated on the form, and evidence is provided where requested.

PGR students can also request up to 35 days a year annual leave. This is recorded by each School and the students’ leave card can be used as proof of authorisation. Requests for annual leave do not need to be sent to the Immigration & Compliance team. However, a record of these should be kept within the school in case of a Home Office audit.

Students requesting a day’s leave for religious observance should use the same form as Home/EU students as this does not need approving by the Immigration & Compliance team.

Authorised absence categories

Absence is authorised in certain categories…

Please note that the visa regulations do not allow a student to officially extend a course end date if the student has been given a period of authorised absence from their course for the same reason. If a student feels that they will not be able to finish their course on time they are advised to consider requesting a suspension instead. Alternatively, if they are unable to finish on time they may be eligible to take a lower award.

CAS’s will not be issued to students needing to extend their visas if their attendance is less than 60%. If this is the case a student may have to repeat as Assessment/Exam only, return on a Short-term study visa (if possible) or accept a lower award. If there is time for the student to improve their attendance before their visa expires, the I&C Team will arrange to meet the student to discuss this.

Click here for the list of authorised absence categories.

Suspensions, withdrawals and finishing a course early

If a Tier 4 student suspends their studies or is withdrawn from their course, the University is required to inform the Home Office within 10 working days. The Home Office will then take action to curtail the student’s visa. They are required to give a student 60 days from the date of curtailment. During this period, the student should either leave the UK or if applicable, apply for a new visa.

All suspensions and withdrawal must take place through the SMP system. The Immigration & Compliance team will then report these to the Home Office within 10 working days. Where the student has a right to appeal this should be embedded within the withdrawal process as the Immigration & Compliance team have to inform the Home Office within 10 working days from the date the student is formally withdrawn on ASIS/SCE.

If a student completes a course early we must inform the Home Office of the early completion date. The Immigration & Compliance team runs periodic reports to identify these students. In this situation the Home Office will curtail the student’s visa to the course completion date plus four months. In this case the student should then make arrangements to return home or apply for a new visa (where applicable) before the curtailed visa expiry date.

Extending and/or repeating part of a course

The Immigration advice on extensions and repeating modules is usually based on academic situation of the student.   

Research/PhD students planning to finish writing-up from home

If a PGR student wishes to finish writing-up from their home country the student must inform the School before they intend to return home. The School should then contact the Immigration & Compliance team via email as we are required to inform the Home Office within 10 working days of their intentions and their visa will be curtailed to 60 days from the date of the report. The student will however, be able to apply for a new visa when they are ready to return e.g. for viva voce exam.

Note: If you have a student who is considering writing up from their Home country, please contact Adeem Fayyaz and Lianne Newton (Visa Support & Compliance Officers) in the first instance.

Students repeating part of their course with attendance

A student is permitted to extend their Tier 4 visa if they are repeating part of their course with attendance. The Immigration & Compliance team will assist the student with this.

Fulltime PGT students extending to submit/resubmit dissertation are required to record a fortnightly swipe. The Attendance Monitoring system must therefore be amended to reflect this.

If there is a more than 60 days’ gap between the student’s current visa expiry date and the next engagement on the course the student will need to return home in the interim. An example of this would be a PGT student repeating modules in semester two only with no attendance requirement in semester one. The registration of these students must be suspended (via an SMP) so the Immigration & Compliance team can advise them accordingly.

Students repeating modules as assessment/exam-only

If any international students are set to repeat modules as assessment/exam only (i.e. they are not attending timetabled sessions but only repeating an assessment/exam), they will need to return home. The default CAB decision should be to repeat with attendance; a student can repeat as assessment/exam only in exceptional circumstances, such as being unable to remain in the UK.

For any Tier 4 international students in this situation, the School should contact the Immigration & Compliance team as soon as possible as the student will need to return home once their timetabled sessions have finished.

The Immigration & Compliance team are required to report a student’s change of circumstance to the Home Office within 10 working days, and their Tier 4 student visa will be curtailed. If the student is required to return to the University to attend examinations or hand in assessments, we can issue them with a letter to support their visa application. Usually these students would apply for a Short-term study visa.

Further students specific information regarding visa extension in the UK is available on the Immigration & Compliance team website.

Resuming students

All suspended students planning to resume study should contact their School in the first instance so the School is able to resume their student record and ASIS updated before the term starts. Suspended undergraduate students will be contacted in the summer by the Immigration & Compliance team to ask if they need a CAS to apply for a new visa. All other students should be advised to contact us at least three months before the date they intend to resume their studies.

Staying in the UK after study

A student may stay in the UK after finishing a course up to the expiry date of their visa (unless the course has finished early, in which case the revised visa expiry date). A student may then apply for another visa if they meet the requirements. 

Students must be advised that overstaying is a criminal offence. Overstaying means allowing your visa (or BRP), to expire whilst you remain in the UK. There is no 'grace period' within which students can lawfully overstay.

Time limits on studying as a Tier 4 student

The Home Office have put in place time limits for Tier 4 students studying at Bachelor’s and Master’s ‘Level (excluding Masters by research). This limit is 5 years but can be extended to six if the student’s’ Bachelor’s degree was four years long (not including repeat years). Certain Law and Architecture courses are exempt from the time limit. The immigration rules around the time limits are complex so Immigration & Compliance team will advise an applicant or student if they have reached their time limit at the application stage. This may also apply to students who have had to repeat year(s) with attendance previously. If this may be a concern, please contact the Immigration & Compliance Team.

How students can contact the immigration team

Students with questions about their visa, or any other immigration queries should be advised to attend the Immigration Drop-in Sessions. During out of term advice, please advise them to contact the Immigration team for an appointment.

Immigration surgeries/drop-in times (term-time only)

Mondays 12:00-1300
Wednesdays 12:00-1300
Fridays 1100-1200

Visa checkpoints

In addition to the usual attendance requirements, all International students on Tier 4 visas are also required to complete Visa Checkpoints as part of their visa requirements for the Home Office.

Tier 4 visa checkpoints

Tier 4 students are required to complete two Visa Checkpoint events per academic year as part of their visa requirements for the Home Office. These usually held in Semester 1 (Oct-Nov) and Semester 2 (Feb-March). The Oct-Nov checkpoint is online-only where students are required to complete on campus by logging into their Student Portal and completing their details. The Feb-March checkpoint is in-person which means all students must come and meet a member of staff in the Immigration team (usually at the International Office, Student Central, Level 4). Immigration & Compliance team contacts students via their student email at least one month before the event with information on how to complete the Visa Checkpoints. Detail about the events are also sent to school attendance contacts.

Non-Tier 4 visa checkpoints

As part of the University's Tier 4 Sponsor duties, we are required to make sure that all international students are studying on a valid visa that allows them to undertake study in the UK. We therefore periodically contact international students who are studying on non-Tier 4 visas for an update on their visa information.Further students specific information regarding visa checkpoints including procedure for completing these is available on the Immigration & Compliance team website.

Visiting students, researchers and academics

Can international students, researchers or academics come to the University for a short visit?

The University accepts a number of visiting (non-degree) students each year for part-time study, short courses, visiting researchers or distance learners.

In addition, we can also have academics, researchers or qualified individuals within their fields visiting the University for a short period to undertake research projects or share best practice.

It is extremely important that each individual visiting the University has the correct immigration permission as sometimes things can get mixed-up.

Please download our information sheet which explains commonly used categories for individuals planning to visit the University and the immigration regulations attached with these.

Who can we enrol?

We can enrol (subject to other University policies) any student whose visa gives them a right to study in the UK. This includes students with Tier 4 leave and those with any other type of immigration permission.

The right to study in the UK is separate to the assessment of a student’s fees status which is usually determined against a different set of government regulations. It is possible for someone who is subject to immigration permission to be eligible for “home fees” status. An example of this would be a student who is a non-EEA national but who is married to a UK or EEA national and also meets the residency requirements for “home fees”. This student would not require Tier 4 leave to be in the UK but we need to check that the immigration permission presented does not restrict study.

We may defer or suspend a student if their current visa does not cover the full length of their course. The Immigration & Compliance team will advise students on a case by case basis.

We cannot however, enrol a student with a Tier 4 visa for another University, unless that student has submitted an application for a Tier 4 visa using a CAS issued by the University of Huddersfield. It is therefore imperative that students changing institutions come to see the Immigration & Compliance team in the International Office before enrolment so that we can help them with this.

Reporting work placements

At the beginning of each term the School Placement Units are contacted by the Immigration & Compliance team for placement details for students. Similarly, the Placement Units are required to keep the Immigration & Compliance team informed of any changes in details (dates and address changes) to a student’s placement during term time (i.e. courses with integrated placements such as Physiotherapy and Podiatry etc.) so that the Home Office can be informed.

A student’s placement does not need to take place within the UK as long as the Placement Unit are able to maintain contact with the student throughout the placement. Whilst on a placement the student is also permitted to work up to an additional 20 hours per week as per their visa conditions.

The immigration rules apply differently to students undertaking placements and can have implications for students who decide to add a placement option later on. See examples below:

Example 1: Student originally started on a course that included a placement but they have since decided not to complete the placement (or they were unable to secure a placement).

Advice: When the student finishes their course early (e.g. in 3 years instead of 4), the Immigration & Compliance team will report this change in circumstances to the Home Office, who will curtail student’s visa. Student cannot study a Masters’ course on the extra year of their visa. They will be issued a new CAS and must apply for a fresh Tier 4 visa.

Example 2: Student originally obtained a visa to study a course without a placement. However, they later on add a placement option.

Advice: This is seen as a change of course by the Home Office and the Student must apply for a new visa to include a work placement, before they can add a placement option to their course. Students can apply for this visa in the UK. They should do this in the summer vacation period before they start a placement. Students must be advised to attend one of the Immigration Drop-in Sessions or contact the Immigration team so we can advise them on the documents and financial evidence they need to prepare for the new visa application.

Further students specific information on work placements is available on the Immigration & Compliance team website.

Attendance Monitoring

The University has a centralised Attendance Monitoring Policy for all students. This policy is fully compliant with the requirements of the Home Office. Taught students are required to swipe in to each timetabled session, however for accumulation of missed contacts we use each day (where a session is timetabled) as one contact point. Students on a placement are monitored by the individual School’s Placement Unit. Placement address and/or dates including any changes to these must be reported to the Immigration & Compliance team so we can inform the Home Office.

Fulltime PGT at dissertation-only stage are required to record a fortnightly swipe (Attendance Monitoring system must be amended to reflect this.) and PGR students are required to swipe weekly. Please note that this is a census point only and is not the sole attendance and engagement required.

The Home Office require that we inform them when a student has missed 10 consecutive contact points. Due to our current attendance monitoring procedure this is unlikely to happen as our students should be contacted prior to this time by the schools’ attendance staff, to be offered support and to discuss their reasons for lack of attendance.

School attendance staff are responsible for the day to day attendance and engagement of students, and to take action against non-attendance as per the University’s attendance monitoring procedure. As part of the Tier 4 compliance requirement, the Immigration & Compliance team maintains oversight of the attendance monitoring process. The team runs regular reports to identify international students on taught courses who have missed 5+ consecutive contacts and PGR students who have missed 2+ consecutive swipes. Details of any students flagging in these reports are forwarded to the relevant contacts in the schools to request an update and/or offer support where needed.

If you have concerns over any International student’s attendance, please contact Adeem Fayyaz and Lianne Newton in the Immigration & Compliance Team.

How staff in Schools can contact the Immigration Team

A member of staff interested in discussing anything related to Immigration or Compliance matters, can contact us by email immigration@hud.ac.uk or via ext. 2917

The Team

Alex Warren – Visa Support & Compliance Manager

Adeem Fayyaz – Visa Support & Compliance Officer

Lianne Newton – Visa Support & Compliance Officer

(Vacant post) – Visa Support Adviser

Luna Hassan – Visa Support & Compliance Assistant

Michelle Bloom – Immigration Assistant

Can students get a work visa after finishing study?

Yes, there are currently four schemes running (there may be other visas available in some cases).

·       Tier 2 (General) – a work visa linked to an employer who hires skilled workers and holds a Tier 2 sponsor license.

·       Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme – for PhD students about to finish their course

·       Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur – for University graduates who have a promising business idea

·       Tier 5 – covers a multitude of short term, niche schemes and jobs

Click here for detail of these post-study visa schemes on the Immigration & Compliance team website