M:\Registry\Visas\Visas 2014\RAM Visa Guide Tier 4 03 In UK Other 2014.

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Visa Application Guidance 2014 applying in the UK for a UK Student
Visa (PBS Tier 4 General) if you already hold another UK visa

[The UK Border Agency is now UK Visas and Immigration UKVI, part of the UK governments Home Office]
This is designed to help you with your application for a Tier 4 student visa through the UKVI Points-Based
System, if your current visa is not Tier 4 or if it was not sponsored by the Academy.
www.ram.ac.uk/immigration-advice
https://www.gov.uk/visas-immigration
www.ukcisa.org.uk

The Academy is a registered Sponsor for Tier 4 Visa applications. You must have met all the conditions of entry before we
sponsor your visa application, or the Academy may lose its Sponsor Licence.
Immigration Advice at the Academy and UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs)
The main contact for advice about your immigration status is the Admissions Officer in the Registry, who can offer Level 1
advice (under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999), this means basic immigration advice and assistance with
applications for entry clearance and leave to remain. Information is also available from UKCISA and they have an advice
phone line if you have any specific questions not covered in their website.
These are authorised contact points for advice and there is no fee involved. You should not need to pay any fees for
immigration advice, and do not seek advice from unauthorised sources; please direct your enquiries to the Academy or
UKCISA, or consult the UK Government websites listed in this document.
Academy email: admissions@ram.ac.uk ____ Edward Kemp-Luck
UKCISA website: www.ukcisa.org.uk

VISA SPONSORSHIP FROM THE ACADEMY.

Before you can apply for a visa, you must ask the Academy to sponsor your application.
www.ram.ac.uk/immigration-advice has information about this, including the sponsorship request form which you will
need to send to the Academy Registry.
The Academy will check these things before sponsoring you:
1. How much money have you paid us for your tuition fees?
2. Your English Language test score is it good enough for you to join your study programme?
3. Have we received your Practical Reference and Academic Reference?
4. Your Matriculation documents have we seen a copy (with translation) as proof that you can join your study
programme?
When all these things are OK and we have received your sponsorship request form, we will put your details into the UKVI
database and send you a copy of those details. Please read those details carefully and tell us if anything is wrong. When
you have confirmed that all the details are correct, we will assign you a "CAS" (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies)
number. This will be no earlier than 6 months before your study programme begins; normally we begin processing CAS
requests from early June because you cannot apply earlier than three months before you begin your studies. The CAS
number will be sent to you by email and you must include it in your visa application.

HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR VISA

In the UK: The online application system https://apply.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk will ask you to register for a customer
account, then to find the correct form you should click on Apply online and Forms A-Z, and scroll down to T for Tier 4.
Please note, the Academy is not your representative or adviser because those words refer to commercial
immigration lawyers, and you must not give the Academy as a contact address for the return of documents.

Not in the UK? If you are applying outside the UK, normally in your home country, you should apply online with the
Visa4UK system (through https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa), and also complete the VAF9 Appendix 8 form from
the same website. Make sure you use the newest version of the form: the UKVI updates the form frequently and if you
use an old one your application will be rejected as invalid so you will have to apply again.

You will need to gain 40 points to get your student visa, and you must include all of the things listed on the next page.
The Tier 4 rules are simple, but very strict if you have not answered all the required questions, or if your application
has incorrect documents, missing documents, or false documents, the wrong application fee or photographs in the wrong
format, your application will be rejected and it is not possible to appeal.
You will have to apply a second time, pay the application fee again, and make sure all the application papers are correct.
You will also have to request a replacement CAS number from the Academy, this will cost you 14.


M:\Registry\Visas\Visas 2014\RAM Visa Guide Tier 4 03 In UK Other 2014.docx Page 2 of 2
1 : MONEY : 10 POINTS
When you apply for a student visa, you have to have bank documents to prove you have 9 months maintenance money
(1,020 per month = 9,180), plus any remaining balance of tuition fees, in a bank or savings at the time you apply for
the visa. However, if you finished an eligible course less than four months before your application (for example if you
finish a Bachelor degree in the summer and are joining a Masters degree in September), or are requesting a visa to cover
the end of your current study programme, you only need to prove you have 2 months maintenance money (1,020 per
month = 2,040).
You must be able to show that you have held the required money for a consecutive 28 day period (finishing on the date
of the closing balance, or the statement date) ending no more than 1 month before the application. You must give an
assurance that the money is genuinely available to pay for your study and living costs: the UKVI might check this
You can use money held in an account owned by your parents. You will need to show evidence that you are
related to to your parent(s)/legal guardian and that you have your parent(s)/legal guardians permission to use
this money.

2 : CAS NUMBER : 30 POINTS
The Academy's CAS number proves that we have sponsored you, and that gives you 30 points.

3 : PROOF OF MATRICULATION
If your existing visa covered the same programme of study which you are already following, you don't need to show any
matriculation documents. If you are changing programme (for example, moving from a Bachelor degree into a Masters
programme), the Academy will confirm the documents you needed to matriculate and you will need to present those
documents with your visa application (or, for low risk applicants see Note 1 below send them to the UKVI on
request). The Academy will specify the documents in the UKVI database, and you will see them listed in the details we
send to you before we sponsor your application.

4 : PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs in the correct format, as described in the guidance notes on the gov.uk website.

5 : APPLICATION FEE
Pay the correct visa application fee. The student visa application fee depends on where you apply from and will be
specified in the visa application form. We advise that you pay online, or with Postal Orders or a Bankers Draft.

REMEMBER!....
The visa may take up to 6 months to process so don't make any firm travel plans.
Make sure you keep enough money in your bank account until the visa is issued if there is a problem and you need
to make a new application, you may need to send new bank documents which must still meet the requirements.
If there is a problem with an application made within the UK, the UKVI will send your application back to you by
Recorded Delivery which means you have to sign for it. If you are not at home when the delivery is attempted, the
Post Office will put a red card through your door asking you to collect the package from a collection centre nearby
YOU MUST COLLECT IT WITHIN ONE WEEK!

If you are studying on a Tier 4 visa at another UK institution and apply during the summer to get your Academy-sponsored
Tier 4 visa, you can gain temporary enrolment in September if the Academy has already sponsored you with a CAS number,
even if the UKVI is still processing your application and has not returned your passport and visa/biometric card. Make sure
you photocopy your passport and existing visa before you send your documents to the UKVI, so you can prove your situation
at enrolment in September.

One more thing:
POLICE REGISTRATION
When you arrived in the UK, if the Immigration Officer put a stamp in your passport telling you to register with the police,
or if there was an instruction printed on your visa, you will need to register again if you extend your time in the UK to
inform the Police of your revised finishing date.

Note 1: Low Risk - The UKVI has cancelled the requirement to provide documentary evidence of maintenance and
qualifications at the time of application for students of some nationalities: see http://www.ukcisa.org.uk under
Preparing and Planning. However, the UKVI reserves the right to request that documentation at random, so please
ensure you can provide this evidence if you are asked.
April 2014