Your Student visa responsibilities

You must protect your visa: understand how to meet the conditions of your visa and remain enrolled at UAL.

Help and guidance

Contact the Student Advice Service for personalised advice relating to your immigration status or visa.

Find further guidance and advice from the following resources:

• UAL representatives
• The British Council office in your home country
• The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)
• The UK Government

The Immigration Compliance team manages UAL's record-keeping and reporting duties to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). Students and staff can contact the team by emailing immigrationcompliance@arts.ac.uk. They don’t offer appointments.

Your responsibilities as a student

Your responsibilities if you hold a Tier 4/ Student Route visa are:

1. Enrolment

You must complete pre-registration and enrolment each year by the latest joining date. If you’re delayed, contact your College as soon as possible to check if your latest joining date can be extended. You’ll need to provide the reason why you can’t enrol on time.

If you don’t enrol or re-enrol on time, your visa will be cancelled.

2. Provide up-to-date documents

You must provide various documents at enrolment and at any other time if asked. You won’t be able to enrol if you can’t provide these documents:

a) Passport

You must provide a copy of a valid passport at enrolment. After enrolment, if you renew your passport, you must provide a copy of your new passport on your UAL Portal.

b) Visa/immigration documents

You must provide copies of the following documents:

• Entry Clearance Vignette
• Visa/Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) (copy both the front and back)
• Share code to prove your immigration status. This only applies to digital immigration status (eVisas)
• UK visa stamps obtained at the UK Border
• Evidence of travel to the UK such as boarding pass or travel ticket
• Evidence of an ongoing visa application that you submitted on time, if you have a pending application.

Check which immigration documents you need to provide at enrolment. After enrolment, you must provide UAL with a copy of any newly obtained visa and immigration documents on your UAL Portal.

c) Exams and qualifications

You must provide copies of the original certificates listed on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). This includes evidence of how you met the English language requirements (if applicable).

3. Check your visa documents for errors

You must report any errors on your visa entry vignette, Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), eVisa or decision letter/email to UKVI.

Mistakes must be corrected or they can cause problems with your immigration status. Check all information immediately, especially the expiry (end) date.

• If you applied in the UK and there’s a mistake in length of stay or conditions on your visa you have 14 days to ask for an Administrative review. This timeframe is set by UKVI.
• Report any other errors on your new BRP to UKVI online within 10 days, whether you applied inside or outside the UK. This timeframe is set by UKVI. Otherwise you will have to pay for the correction.
• Find information about reporting vignette and eVisa errors via the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). Then if you need more help, contact the Student Advice Service.

You must also:

• Inform your College or Institute programme administration team as soon as you become aware of an error.
• Inform the Immigration Compliance team as soon as you become aware of an error. Email immigrationcompliance@arts.ac.uk.

As your sponsor, we're required to report the error to UKVI too.

4. Changes to your circumstances

If your immigration status or nationality changes, you must tell us immediately on your UAL Portal. This includes when you’ve replaced your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) because it has been lost, stolen or damaged.

If any of your personal details change you must:

• report your change of circumstances to UKVI and
• tell your College and
• email the Immigration Compliance team immigrationcompliance@arts.ac.uk.

5. Contact details

You must keep your personal details up to date on your UAL Portal. This a UKVI requirement and includes:

• your email address
• your UK telephone number (UKVI does not allow overseas numbers)
• your address in the UK
• your address in your home country.

6. Working whilst in the UK on a Student Route visa

You can usually work during your studies but there are restrictions on the type of work and the number of weekly hours.  Breaking these conditions is a criminal offence and can result in your visa being cancelled.

Find more details about limitations on student work via the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

• You can’t under any circumstances be self-employed, work on a freelance basis or be a consultant. You mustn’t sell goods or services (including through websites or applications) or set-up/run any sort of business.
• You can’t usually work as an entertainer. There are exceptions if you are a Drama, Dance or Music student taking part in a placement organised by UAL.

Email the Immigration Compliance team if you’ve been issued a visa with incorrect work conditions: immigrationcompliance@arts.ac.uk.

7. Attend classes and inform UAL about absences

Let us know if you can't attend classes. UAL must report continued unauthorised absences to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). If this happens, your visa will be cancelled and you’ll have to leave the UK.

Find out more about how your attendance and participation are monitored.

8. When your visa ends

• You must leave the UK before your visa expires, or
• You must ensure that you continue to have a valid visa. Extend or apply for a new visa before your previous visa expires.

UKVI rules apply and not all students are permitted to extend their visa in the UK. Read more about applying for a CAS if you are a returning student [LINK] who needs a new Student Route visa.

You must follow UAL procedures if you:

• defer enrolment
• are suspended from your studies
• withdraw from your course, or
• need to re-sit without the requirement to be in the UK.

If these circumstances result in the cancellation of your visa, you must leave the UK within the required timeframe. See Changes to your studies for more information.

If you’re a student on a Tier 4 or Student Route visa and you have queries about the Graduate Route visa please contact graduateroute@arts.ac.uk.

UAL's responsibilities

UAL must comply with the requirements of the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). If we become aware that you’re not meeting the conditions of your visa, we’re required by law to report this to UKVI.

If we fail to follow our legal requirements it will have serious consequences for UAL. This includes the removal of our Sponsor Licence. We must meet our obligations for the benefit of all our sponsored students.

The Immigration Compliance team manages UAL's record-keeping and reporting duties to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). Students and staff can contact the team by emailing immigrationcompliance@arts.ac.uk. They don’t offer appointments.

1. Recordkeeping

UKVI rules state that we must keep on file:

• up-to-date contact details for all sponsored students and students subject to immigration control
• copies of students’ passports and immigration documents to confirm their right to study in the UK.

Contact details include:

• your email address
• your UK telephone number (UKVI does not allow overseas numbers)
• your address in the UK
• your address in your home country.

For Student Route visa holders, continued sponsorship depends on your continued course engagement. Read more about how to show you’re engaging with your course.

2. Reporting to UKVI

If you hold a Tier 4 or Student Route visa, UAL must report the following changes to UKVI within 10 working days of the change:

• You haven’t enrolled or re-enrolled by the latest joining date.
• Your visa (e.g. BRP or eVisa) has been issued with incorrect validity dates, work conditions, or other incorrect information.
• It’s agreed that you can transfer to another course.
• It’s agreed that you can take time out from your course.
• It's agreed that you can move to another study location. For example, a different UAL campus.
• The location and dates of any work placements that are an integral and assessed part of your course.
• There’s an interruption to your studies leading to more than 60 days where participation is not required. The 60 days does not include days outside of your official term dates.
• You’ve been withdrawn from your course.
• You complete your course earlier than the date on your CAS.
• You’ve changed immigration category during your studies.
• You’ve told us or we have identified that you’ve breached the conditions of your visa.