International Student Team
Tier 4 visa application guidance- applying outside of the UK
This document is intended to provide guidance on the parts of the Tier 4 application form that the
International Student Team receive the most queries about.
Applicants should provide answers to at least all of the questions marked with a *
Other sources of information that you may find useful when applying for your visa include:
International Students area of the International Student Team website
Tier 4 policy guidance
UKVI website
UKCISA website
To start an overseas Tier 4 visa application please go to the UKVI website https://www.gov.uk/tier4-general-visa/apply
After creating an account, please
click on 'apply for myself' in order
to access the application form
Your intended date of travel
will inform the start date of your
Tier 4 visa. You are entitled to
a visa that is valid up to 1
month before your course start
date. If you enter an intended
travel date that is later than
this, your visa will be valid from
7 days before the date you
have entered in the application
All applicants should select these
three options in order to access the
correct application
Click here to proceed
Please complete this section with the
required information
Please complete this section with
the required information
If you are intending to bring family members with you
to the UK, they will need to complete their own Tier 4
dependant visa application. Only students who are on
a course that is 12 months or longer and NQF7 or
above are eligible to bring their spouse and children
which the exception of government sponsored
students whose course has to be just 6 months or
longer.
Please enter the duration of your course
as specified in your CAS
If you have not yet
received the exact
details of your
accommodation,
please enter the main
contact details of your
College
Please complete this section with
the relevant information
You will need to provide as much detail
as possible in relation to your previous
travel, visas, applications and refusals
This question relates to whether you previously
left the UK after being served with a removal
notice from the Home Office. It does not relate
to simply leaving the UK at the end of a
previous stay in accordance with the validity of
your visa
You will have received a national insurance
number if you have previously worked in the
UK
Please provide the relevant
personal details in this section
Please provide the relevant
personal details in this section
All students should enter the same
sponsor information
All of the information required for this
section can be found in your CAS. If you
have not yet received your CAS you
cannot submit a visa application
An undergraduate course is
level NQF6, Masters is
NQF7 and PhD is NQF8
All students should enter the address of
Student Registry
All students should select 'studying' from the
drop down list
All applicants should answer 'no' to this
question
All students should select this option as
your CAS will confirm that we have
assessed your English language ability
This is applicable to certain science and
technology subjects only. You would
have had to apply for ATAS in advance
of receiving your CAS if this was
relevant to you
This information will be included in your
CAS
If you have paid any of your course fees and this is
recorded in your CAS then you do not need to
submit any further evidence of the payment. If it is
not recorded you will need to submit an official
receipt. Any fees paid will be deducted from the
amount of money you need to show as part of your
application
Up to 1265GBP can be recorded in your CAS and
deducted from the amount you need to show in
living costs if you have made a payment for
accommodation to your College
An official financial sponsor is a government, British
Council, international organisation or company or a
University. If Cambridge University, your College or
Department are sponsoring you, we can record this in
your CAS and no further evidence of this funding is
required
If your sponsor is not covering all of your first
year course fees plus at least 9135GBP in
maintenance or you are not receiving official
financial sponsorship, you must be able to
prove that you have access to the outstanding
amount in the form of your own funds or your
parents/legal guardians funds
You should answer yes to this question if you are
receiving official financial sponsorship and/or are relying
on your own funds to meet the financial requirements of
the visa application.
If you are using your parents or legal guardians funds,
you will need to submit their financial evidence as well
as a letter from them confirming your relationship and
giving permission for you to use your funds plus in the
case of your parents, your original birth certificate and
for your legal guardian, an official court document
confirming your relationship.
Please enter details of the original documents
you can supply to demonstrate that you have
sufficient funds to cover your course fees and
maintenance. If you are receiving full
sponsorship which is recorded in your CAS you
can state 'evidence held in CAS'.
Full details of the various types of acceptable
financial evidence that can be relied upon can be
found in the Tier 4 policy guidance
All applicants should enter the following
points in order to qualify for a Tier 4 visa
BRP Collection
Applicants applying overseas will receive a 30 day entry permit in their passport which will enable travel to the UK. The actual
visa, in the form of a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), will need to be collected on arrival in the UK. The BRP can be collected
from the University but you need to enter an ACL code in the ‘Alternative Location’ box in the section below. To find the code
relevant for your course at Cambridge, read the information at: www.internationalstudents.cam.ac.uk/collecting-your-visa-brp .
If you do not enter the ACL code in the Alternative Location box, you will need to collect your BRP from a designated Post Office
based on the postcode entered. We advise you to use the University as the collection point unless you plan to enter the UK more
than 10 days prior to the start of the course in which case collection from the Post Office may be preferable.