Documents required

Submitting documents with your Student Visa application

The documents you need to provide with your visa application depend on your circumstances. Some documents are mandatory and others need to be provided depending on your circumstances and what your CAS says. The following list should help you to work out what documents you will need to provide. It's important to provide all of the documents needed, as not doing so can cause a visa refusal.

Student Visa document list

A current passport or other valid travel documentation.

Qualifications stated on your CAS. All qualifications listed in your CAS.  You should note that if no qualifications are listed in your CAS, you are not required to provide any.

English language evidence. UKVI ask for proof of your knowledge of the English language. Universities can choose how they assess a student's knowledge of English. Your CAS will confirm how your English language ability has been assessed by the university. If it has been assessed by you providing a certificate or qualification, then this will be listed in your CAS and you must provide the certificate listed. If no English language qualifications are listed in your CAS, then you will not need to provide any with your application.

Translations. If any document is not in English, the original must be accompanied by a full translation. The translation must contain:

• Validation from the translator that it is an exact translation of the original document
• Translation company's contact details
• The date of the translation

Proof of finances. You need to provide evidence that you have a specific amount of money available to you for tuition fees and living costs in the UK. See our information on the financial requirements for guidance on how to check what this amount is.

The types of document you can provide to prove your finances are:

• Personal bank statements or building society statements
• Bank letters
• Official loan letters
• Official financial sponsorship letters

See our information and guidance on finance documents on the demonstrating your finances page.  Please note that it is important to provide finance documents which meet the requirements, to avoid a visa refusal.

Letter of consent from government sponsor. If you have received any official financial sponsorship from a government in the past year, you must provide a letter from this sponsor which confirms the sponsor's consent for you to make the Student Visa application.

Proof of your relationship with your parent or guardian. If the funds you show are held under a parent's name, you must prove your relationship to your parent(s). Birth certificates or adoption certificates are accepted.

Letter from parent/ guardian. If the funds are held under a parent's name, you also need a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) providing consent for you to use the money.  The letter does not need to follow a strict format, but it must be signed and dated.

Proof of parental or other legal guardian consent if you're under 18.  If you are under the age of 18 when you start your studies, you will need to provide a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and also your birth certificate or adoption certificate.  Contact us for more information and advice if needed.

Your tuberculosis test results if you're from a country where you have to take the test.  Note that if you have been living in a country for the past six months where the TB test is not required, then you will not need to provide this (If you have been living in the UK for six or more months, then you will not need to take a TB test.)  See the UKVI information on TB tests to check if this applies to you.

ATAS Certificate (Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate). This is a certificate required by some postgraduate students. (It does not apply to students on undergraduate programmes of study.)  You should note that it takes approximately one month for an ATAS certificate to be issued. Your CAS will confirm if you need an ATAS certificate. See our ATAS information for more guidance.

Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS)

This is the electronic document that you will receive from the university via email, which is essential to making your Student Visa application. You should note that as the CAS is electronic, you only need to provide the CAS reference number in your visa application form and there is no requirement to provide a paper copy.

Information about getting your CAS for a new programme of study

Information about getting your CAS for extending your visa (continuing on the same programme of study with an extension.)

Differentiation arrangements

If you are a national of a country listed under the differential evidence requirement, you do not need to provide qualifications or finance evidence with your visa application.

However, you may still need to have these documents available, because UKVI reserves the right to ask you to send them the documentary evidence during the processing of the visa application. If you are asked to provide the documents and cannot do so within a specified time, it is likely that your visa application will be refused.

Whether you fall under the differentiation arrangements or not depends on your nationality.  You can find a list of nationalities that fall under the differentiation arrangements in the gov.uk webpages about information on financial evidence for a Student Visa application.

Further advice

If you need advice regarding your visa application or the documents, you can contact the International Student Advice Service.