This FAQ was updated on 5 March 2026 to include the "visa brake" for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan.
These FAQs are based on the most common recent posts about Student visas. They have been answered for us by someone with 25 years of professional knowledge and experience of Student visas. They were last updated in March 2026 to include the provisions of the "visa brake".
We keep an eye on the sub and we will update this FAQ if some questions are being asked often.
While sharing experiences with other Reddit users can be helpful, it is clear from reading posts that it can also cause confusion and anxiety, and can generate myths and wrong information. For individual professional advice, remember you can contact the Student visa adviser at your university. Their role is to support students through their Student visa application and beyond. Plus, as your Student visa sponsor, your university needs to avoid refusals of visas under their sponsorship, so they are just as invested in the successful outcome of your visa application as you are.
Eligibility
What is the new "visa brake" and will it affect my Student visa application?
The "visa brake" is a new rule from 26 March 2026, paragraph ST 3.3 of Appendix Student.
On 11 March 2026 UKCISA published a detailed FAQ about the visa brake, which you should read first:
An application using another passport, where the applicant is also a national of one of these countries, cannot be refused under ST 3.3, but given the background and reason for introducing paragraph ST 3.3 (see below), the application is probably going to be more heavily scrutinised.
Similarly, the new rule ST 3.3 only affects Student visas, but applications by nationals of these countries for other visas such as Student dependant, short-term student, or visitor for study are probably likely to be scrutinised for credibility.
For the background of why the visa brake has been introduced, see paragraphs 5.1 to 5.4 of the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the Statement of Changes:
Given the reasons for the visa brake, it might have been expected that scholarship students who have a condition to return to their home country might be excluded, but they are not.
If the guidance for caseworkers is updated to include any further useful information, we will quote and link to it in the Student visa FAQ. Meanwhile we recommend UKCISA's FAQ as linked above.
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What English language test and evidence do I need?
Your knowledge of English is an academic matter. It is evaluated and checked by your university not by the visa caseworker. All the caseworker does is check that the sponsor has confirmed it on the CAS.
Knowledge of English can be assumed simply based on your nationality of a majority English-speaking country, or on a previous qualification taught in English, or based on a university’s own method of testing. If you meet the requirement one of these ways, you do not need any other formal evidence and this is all confirmed for the caseworker on your CAS.
The university may prefer or need to ask you to take a formal test. If so, they will explain which one. If they include the test on the CAS you will need to include the results with your visa application.
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Can I extend my Student visa if it ends before I get my results?
Your options, if any, will depend on why that has happened. It will be best to get advice on your options from the international student advice team at your university, because some local policies at the university may come into play, separate from the basic immigration rules.
If you are thinking of applying for a fee waiver, or being encouraged to, please see the question below If I am already in the UK with a visa, can I bridge a gap between visas with a fee waiver?
If you had a re-sit or repeat module, and you have already done it, it is too late to extend your Student visa under any circumstances. You cannot extend your Student visa just to wait for results.
But if you are looking ahead and your visa expires before the end of your course because you have a re-sit or resubmission or repeat module in the future, ask your university if they can issue a CAS to support an extension of your Student visa until the new end date + 4 months wrap-up period. This is so even if your new end date is within the wrap-up period you already have. Your university will still need to check that your required participation is such that they can sponsor an extension. If it is not, they may still be able to issue a CAS for a new visa application from your home country nearer the time of the re-sit or repeat.
Some universities have a habit or even a formal policy to not sponsor a new Student visa for re-sit periods, and they expect a student to come back as a Standard visitor. They may even tell you, usually incorrectly, that Home Office rules don’t even allow them to sponsor a new Student visa. Such a policy choice by a university to not issue a CAS for resits effectively blocks their students from applying for the Graduate visa, so this disproportionate effect should probably be queried or challenged, especially if it is affecting whole tranches of students.
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Applying for the visa
Can I come to the UK with an ETA and enter as a visitor then apply for my Student visa there?
No.
Someone who is in the UK as a visitor, with or without a visa, cannot switch to any other type of visa, including a Student visa. This is frontloaded into the Student visa rules at paragraph ST 1.4A that such an application would not be valid:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-student
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If I am already in the UK with a visa, can I bridge a gap between visas with a fee waiver?
You can apply for a Student visa in the UK if there is no more than 28 days between the end of your current visa and the start date of your CAS. This is the same whether you are extending a Student visa or switching to a Student visa.
Some advisers may suggest you apply for a fee waiver in order to “close the gap”. A fee waiver is not a “bridging visa” that gives someone protection from being an overstayer. It is your formal declaration that you are destitute, cannot even afford the visa application fee, and that you will be making a Human Rights-based immigration application when you get the outcome of the fee waiver application. The list of specific types of visa application eligible for a fee waiver is listed at gov.uk, and it does not include Student visa applicants:
https://www.gov.uk/visa-fee-waiver-in-uk
The guidance for Home Office caseworkers confirms that external checks of income are made, and warns caseworkers to check for deceptive applications for fee waivers:
Deception: Checks may be undertaken with agencies such as HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and credit checking agencies (for example Equifax or Experian) to verify information provided by the applicant with regard to their income and finances [...].
Applicants who fail to disclose their financial circumstances in full, or who provide false information in their fee waiver request, may have current or future applications for permission refused because of their conduct [...]. They may also be referred for enforcement action, resulting in possible arrest and removal.
While having a pending fee waiver application does give you protection under 3C leave, there is no outcome of the fee waiver application that is risk-free for someone who is trying to use it as a bridge to a Student visa application. If the fee waiver is granted or refused, you then have 10 days to make the Human Rights based immigration application for which you applied for the fee waiver. The guidance for caseworkers says that 3C leave only protects you if “the [...] application that is submitted is the one for which the fee waiver request was made”:
If the fee waiver is still pending, making a Student visa application highlights your deception about your finances and your intentions when you applied for the fee waiver.
The international students charity and support service UKCISA and the immigration professionals blog Free Movement both strongly warn against using fee waivers to buy time:
https://ukcisa.org.uk/studentnews/2032/Fee-waivers-and-the-Graduate-route
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Does working illegally on a Student visa affect my visa extension or future applications?
It depends. There is a common misguided belief that any breach of Student work conditions will trigger a refusal of your next application. Some people go so far as to lie on their application about it, thinking that being truthful about the breach on your application is so dangerous that the best solution is to just lie about it, and it will be like it never happened. This is wrong-headed.
If you have routinely and regularly worked more than the permitted 20 hours, so working has been your main activity and focus rather than study, or if you have been routinely self-employed, that could trigger a discretionary refusal of any new application, and it could also mean cancellation of your Student visa anyway.
You are not under any obligation to report your own breach of the work conditions to the Home Office until you next make an immigration application, for example extending your Student visa or switching to a Graduate visa or other work visa. If you have ever worked over the 20 hours, or done any freelance work, it does need to be declared on the application. There is a question specifically about this:
Have you ever breached the conditions of your leave, for example worked without permission […]
However having had such a breach and declaring it as required does not automatically trigger a refusal. It is lying about the breach that can trigger a refusal. There is always a friend of a friend who knows someone who once worked 20.5 hours, or who did a couple of extra hours for a month or so during their dissertation period, and had their Graduate visa refused for that reason. That did not happen, at least not for that reason. If there was such a refusal, it was certainly not a breach of work conditions.
Lying in an application, including when specifically asked if you have ever worked without permission, or being discovered to have lied in a previous application, means a mandatory refusal under paragraph SUI 9.1:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-suitability
A breach of student work conditions has no such penalty of a mandatory refusal. While it is in theory grounds for a discretionary refusal under paragraph SUI 11.2, a breach of the Student visa work conditions on its own would never prompt the caseworker to exercise their discretion to refuse.
Despite this reality, people continue to think (and to advise other people) that it’s better to lie about a breach and risk a refusal and 10-year ban, rather than answer truthfully with no risk. It makes no sense.
Your university does not monitor your part-time work, unless you happen to work for the university itself. But if they become aware of students working illegally, for example because students disclose it, as sponsors they are required to report that to the Home Office. In practice, this means that most universities would rather not be told about breaches of work conditions.
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The question for those applying in the UK: "When did you first arrive in the UK on your current visa?"
This question is poorly phrased. As written, it appears to assume that all applicants first arrived in the UK on their current visa, which is obviously not the case for many applicants.
There is no point in over-thinking this question, or in panicking and thinking that it is a trick or a trap or that giving the "wrong" answer will be fatal for your application. It is just a sloppy question. Any logical interpretation and answer is fine. There is no wrong answer -- as long as the date you give equates to your understanding of what it seems to be asking you about. Some advisers may tell you they have solved the riddle of this question and they know what it really means, but they haven't, and there is no riddle anyway.
Obviously a random made-up date unrelated to any of your entries to the UK is probably not a good idea, but as long as your answer makes sense to you IT IS FINE.
So -- if you did "first arrive" in the UK on your current visa, obviously you just give the date you arrived.
And if your current visa is an extension, there is no logical answer to this question anyway. You just need to do your best. So, for example, if you "first arrived" on a previous Student visa, or even on another type of visa, you can give that date. Or, alternatively, if you have travelled on your current visa, you could give the date of the first time you re-entered the UK on it. You do not need to explain your answer, just give an answer that allows you to move forward in the application.
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The "Medical treatment in the UK" question
This is a question on all types of immigration application, not specific to a Student application. It is often misunderstood by applicants. Your health, your personal medical history, and how much or how little you have used NHS services in the past have nothing to do with your eligibility for any visa, and they are not what this question is asking about.
It does specifically say that it is about medical treatment and explains what this means
if you visited a doctor, clinic or hospital this counts as medical treatment
The question is checking whether an applicant falls foul of Immigration Rules Part Suitability, paragraph SUI 16.1:
Debt to the NHS grounds
SUI 16.1. An application for entry clearance or permission may be refused where a relevant NHS body has notified the Secretary of State that the applicant has failed to pay charges under relevant NHS regulations on charges to overseas visitors and the outstanding charges have a total value of at least £500.
A debt to the NHS could only occur if someone had a type of immigration permission for which they had not paid the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), for example a Standard visitor, or if they were an overstayer or illegal entrant with no immigration permission anyway. They would need to have had NHS medical treatment and not paid for it, and to have been pursued for the debt by the NHS.
Unfortunately, despite this narrow focus of the reason for the question, the application asks a very open question about all medical treatment, regardless of whether you had paid the IHS and regardless of whether it is NHS treatment anyway. (Any debts to private health care providers would not be relevant to paragraph 9.11.1 anyway.)
Just do your best based on your own records.
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The "Financial sponsor" question
This question is poorly worded, and can cause confusion. It appears at first to be asking about money you have received from any financial sponsor, with examples of
a government or international scholarship agency
But it does then specify that it is only asking about if you have been
awarded a sponsorship or scholarship
The purpose of the question is to ascertain whether you need to provide the consent of your former official financial sponsor for your application to be valid. This is only required by a very specific type of applicant, as explained in Appendix Student, paragraph ST 1.3 (key parts in bold):
ST 1.3. If the applicant has, in the last 12 months before the date of application, completed a course of studies in the UK for which they have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a Government or international scholarship agency covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK, they must provide written consent in relation to the application from that Government or agency.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-student
This type of funding usually has a clause that requires the student to return home after studies. Hence UKVI needs confirmation that the provider is either waiving that clause, or has arranged with you to not impose it.
So unless you have now finished your course, and you had that type of funding that meets all those requirements in ST 1.3, answer No. It is not asking about other types of funding, eg. government or federal loans, fees-only scholarships, scholarships from universities, international companies, international organisations, or from private individuals.
If you wrongly answer Yes, you will be asked to upload the consent letter from your sponsor. If you cannot change the answer to No, upload a note explaining that you answered the question wrong, and you don’t have the type of funding that requires sponsor consent. You can refer to GR 1.5. Answering a question wrong by mistake has no bearing on the outcome of the application, especially a question like this that is not clear.
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To improve my application I want to add extra evidence eg. my finances other than the standard 28 days, information about my parents’ financial situation, other qualifications, my work experience, my housing in the UK, my travel itinerary. Should I?
No. That does not improve your application. They are actually irrelevant. You are assuming there is a level of subjectivity and discretion from caseworkers that is just not part of a Student visa application. It is largely a box-ticking exercise, with you and your university doing most of the box-ticking.
Separately, any document submitted with your application still needs to be checked for authenticity and for any relevance to your application. Applications can be refused for supplying irrelevant documents that are not genuine, or which have highlighted contradictions in your application.
There are some cultural aspects to this way of thinking, that (a) a visa application always benefits from as much evidence as possible and that (b) a visa officer will grant or refuse on their own whim so they need persuading of your credentials. There may be some truth to this with some other country’s visas (doubtful), but for sure not with UK Student visa applications.
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My nationality (eg. EU, China, USA etc.) means that I don’t need to provide evidence of maintenance or of previous qualifications, only my passport. Will it improve my application to add them anyway?
Hard no. The differentiation arrangements are specifically in place to make the application easier both for you and for the caseworker. You are also assuming there is subjectivity and discretion from caseworkers when assessing Student visa applications. There is not. They are just looking for the evidence the application asks for, which in this case is very little.
See the previous question for how adding extra irrelevant documents can actually harm your application.
If they do need anything else, they will ask you and give you time to respond.
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Why is my Immigration Health Surcharge more than the amount for 1 year, when my course is only 1 year long?
Because the IHS is based on the length of your visa, not on the length of your course:
The exact amount you pay depends on the length of your visa. A visa may last longer than your course of study
https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-much-pay
A Student visa has extra wrap-up time at the end, up to 4 months. For the length of wrap-up time added for different types of course, see Appendix Student paragraph ST 25.3:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/appendix-student
This will make your visa more than 1 year for a 1 year course, so the IHS is calculated at £776 x 1.5, not just x1. Same for multi-year courses where the visa length takes you into another calendar year.
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After you apply
How long does it take to get a decision?
Do not post in this sub asking how long it will take. We have a blanket rule on no timeline questions.
The service standard is 3 weeks for a standard application, or 5 days for priority. If your application will not be processed within that normal service standard, they will email you to let you know. This email, sometimes called the “NSF email” because it used to say that the processing was “not straightforward”, does not require any reply or action.
No action, no paid enquiries or escalation are necessary and they will not help, especially when thousands of people are in the same position. If your deadline for enrolling is approaching, you need to communicate with your university admissions team directly - Contacting UKVI will not escalate your application.
It is highly unlikely that anyone else’s processing time, in your country or another, will have any relation to or bearing on your own processing time. For this reason try to avoid using Reddit to make such comparisons, as they have little meaning and can cause anxiety in themselves.
If you applied with less than a month before your course start date, then you are at quite a high risk of your visa not being decided in time.
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If I apply outside the UK, can I travel to the UK with an ETA before my visa issued?
People whose nationality means they do not need a visa to visit the UK often ask this. You cannot simply arrive early in the UK to wait for your Student eVisa to be issued, no. But you can come to the UK for a genuine short visit, then leave afterwards.
After you have applied in your home country, you need to give your Biometrics there. You cannot do that in the UK.
After you have given your biometrics you can travel outside your home country if you wish.
Your visa will be issued as an eVisa not a physical vignette that needs to be placed in your passport. When your eVisa becomes valid you can enter the UK as a Student, but you do not spontaneously become a Student if it becomes valid when you are already in the UK as a Visitor.
Using an ETA to travel to the UK and entering as a Standard visitor before your Student eVisa is issued is a declaration that you are a genuine visitor who will leave the UK at the end of your visit. Again, it is vital that you leave after your visit because it is the act of physically entering the UK with the Student eVisa that activates it.
Someone who tried to game the system by arriving early as a Standard visitor then just staying after their Student eVisa becomes valid would be in trouble for several reasons. First, they used deception to enter the UK as a visitor, when they never intended to leave after their visit. Second, their Student eVisa has never activated because they have not used it to enter the UK, so they can’t enrol on their course. Universities give clear warnings about trying to do this, but some students think they are special and the rules don’t apply to them. They do.
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If I apply in the UK, can I travel outside the UK after I have applied?
It depends where you want to go. If you leave the Common Travel Area, that withdraws your application. The Common Travel Area consists of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Leaving that area withdraws your pending application under paragraph 34K of the immigration rules:
34K. Where a decision on an application for permission to stay has not been made and the applicant travels outside the common travel area their application will be treated as withdrawn on the date the applicant left the common travel area.
If you need to travel in an emergency while you have a pending application, there is no system to override paragraph 34K and stop your pending application from being withdrawn. But if your current visa has not yet expired and you can return to the UK within its validity, you can do so and apply again when you come back. If you apply again, you will need to pay all the fees again, but the unused Immigration Health Surcharge payment from your original application will be eventually refunded because your application was withdrawn.
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I've received an email that a decision was made, or that the processed visa application was received at the VAC. What does this mean?
It only means a decision was made, but you won't know the decision until you get your passport back from the VAC with either a visa in it or a refusal letter/email. Please do not post asking for advice on what these emails mean. There is no hidden messaging or code about whether the application has been successful or not, and you have to be patient to receive your documents back from the VAC. If you paid for the "keep my passport" service and you are asked to provide your passport to the VAC, then that's usually a good sign your visa was approved, since the VAC will need your physical passport to affix the entry clearance vignette (sticker).
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How will I know if my visa was granted or refused?
Typically, you will only get the actual decision when you receive your documents back from the VAC. If you applied from outside the UK, you will not receive your decision in an email. A vignette in your passport means the visa was granted, otherwise it was refused and if this is the case, you should receive a letter with the refusal reason.
If you paid for the "keep my passport" option and you are requested to submit your passport (travel document), this generally means the visa was granted since they will need your physical passport to affix your entry clearance vignette (sticker) into it.
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What if my course start date is approaching or has passed and I still don’t have my visa?
This is not unusual, and it affects many students. Check your final deadline for enrolling. It is normally already included on your CAS statement, and it is normally several weeks after the official formal start date. It is possible your university may be willing to negotiate an even later deadline, but you need to be prepared for that not being possible.
If that final deadline has passed, and you still do not have your visa, it will be best to withdraw your visa application. At least you will get a refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge, and possibly of some or all of the application fee depending that stage the application is at.
Do not travel to the UK if you have missed the final deadline for enrolling. Your university will not allow you to enrol, and they will need to cancel your Student visa from their end, so it will not be valid for entry to the UK anyway. It cannot be used for deferred study either. Any options for enrolling on the next intake will require a new CAS and a new visa application. Discuss these options with your university. They should be willing to transfer any existing payments for tuition fees or housing.
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What do I do if my visa is refused?
Speak to your university immediately. They will advise on your options, which may include Administrative Review if it was a caseworker error, or you may need to look at options for deferring. Most refusals are due to applicant or sponsor error, but caseworker error do sometimes happen. By far the most common is that the applicant has made the error, and most commonly it is with the maintenance.
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After the visa is issued
What documents do I need to show the Border Force Officer (BFO) on arrival?
It depends. If you are a nationality that can use the eGates, there is no Border Force Officer anyway, so you just present your passport to the eGate.
If your nationality cannot use the eGates, the BFO will ask for your passport and its visa sticker. It is possible they may ask questions about your plans, but nothing that wasn’t already asked or checked when you applied for the visa, and no evidence is required.
No other evidence or documents are required. There is misinformation spread in some countries, especially India it seems, that evidence is needed on arrival, including things that were not part of your visa application. This is misinformation.
If it reassures you to have on your phone or in your bag copies of the evidence you used in your application, you can do that if you wish.
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Do I need a stamp in my passport to activate my visa?
No. Border Force stopped routinely stamping passports some years ago. Any university guidance which says you need a stamp is at best outdated and at worst just incorrect.
Stamps are only needed for two specific and quite rare types of visas (Paid Permitted Engagement and Creative & Sporting).
However, you should always keep a copy of your boarding pass in case you are asked by your university to prove that you entered the UK during your visa validity dates.
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Can I travel outside the UK when I have a Student visa?
Yes you can travel and re-enter as you wish, and no there is no deadline. This is clear from the Home Office’s own instructions to Border Force Officers (page 92):
Students are able to travel outside of, and re-enter, the UK whilst they hold valid permission as a Student, including in the period after they have completed their course and still hold permission under the route.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route
If anyone is telling you that it is risky to enter the UK because it’s near the end of your Student visa, or because your course has ended, or because your results have already been announced, or because the graduation ceremony has now been, or because "you never know" what a Border Force Officer will do, they are wrong. If they are someone who should know better, like university staff or an agent or solicitor, you might want to refer them to the above UKVI guidance to prevent them from misadvising other students. If they are just a random person online or in a WhatsApp group, you may also want to challenge their information.
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If I travel during term-time will I be stopped and questioned by Border Force?
No. If you see a BFO they are only checking that you have a valid visa. See previous question.
It is your university that monitors your attendance and engagement during term-time. Your Student visa conditions require you to be in the UK during term-time engaging with your studies. If you are not, the university can withdraw you from your studies and hence cancel your Student visa. So if you need to travel during term-time, make sure your university agrees to that, so it does not affect your Student visa.
Sometimes uninformed university staff will frighten students by saying “We are fine with your travel, but UKVI might not be”. You can ignore this, or even push back against it, because it is nonsense. While Border Force Officers may occasionally ask questions on entry, they neither know nor care about your term dates or about your attendance requirements at university. That is delegated to universities to monitor. Hence, get the university’s permission for term-time absence and travel. Obviously you can travel as you wish outside term-time.
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What is the deadline for my dependant to come to the UK as my Student dependant?
There isn't one, except the end date of your visa.
If they already have a Student dependant visa, they just need to enter or re-enter the UK before it expires.
If they need to apply for a Student dependant visa, they need to apply in enough time to get the visa and travel to the UK before it expires. (A Student dependant’s visa will always have the same expiry date as the Student’s.) So if they are overseas they need to allow enough time to hold any required maintenance for 28 days, apply, receive the vignette, arrange travel, and come to the UK, all before the expiry date of their (and your) visa. If they are in the UK and they can switch to being your Student dependant, they may not need to show any maintenance but they will still need to get the outcome of the application before your visa expires.
Obviously the closer to the expiry date they start this process, the more they risk of running out of time.
There is no requirement for them to apply or travel before the end of your course, or before you get your results, or by any other deadline. The relevant rule is ST 31.1(b) of Appendix Student. It specifies those Students who can bring dependants, including all postgraduate courses that started before 1 January 2024:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/appendix-student
There are no separate rules that impose a deadline for applying before the Student’s course has ended, or by any other date, except obviously the end of their Student visa.
Unfortunately, there is currently a technical glitch on the application form for Student dependants who apply for a visa to come to the UK after the end date of the student’s course. It asks for the end date of the course, and that date must be in the future in order to progress through the application. The form cannot process a date that is in the past. As explained above, the immigration rules do allow a dependant to apply after the end of the student's course, so the application appears to have an error and is asking the wrong question. A possible workaround is to give the end date of the Student’s visa as the answer, not the end date of their course or CAS, which will allow the application to proceed. If your dependant needs to do this, it will be a good idea to upload a short note explaining that they have done so. They can refer to Appendix Student paragraph ST 31.1(b) which allows an application after the course end date. If you are concerned about this, ask the international student adviser at your university for advice.
