Late Arrivals - International Students

Information for International Students

All students are expected to arrive in Swansea in time for the welcome activities and start date for their course (as detailed on their CAS). 

However, if there is a short delay, and you are able to travel, and fully enrol, by 4 pm GMT on Monday 13th April 2026, you can assume late permission to that date has been granted. It is your responsibility to make every effort to arrive and enrol by that later date and you should allow a full day to complete enrolment activities. Please note: the University monitors the UKVI SMS system and is aware when a UKVI visa decision is made on outstanding visa applications, there is an expectation on students to travel very promptly after the visa decision is received.

If you know that you will arrive after the automatically permissible arrival date of Monday 13^th April 2026, please see the following advice for what to do next:

Complete the Permission to arrive-enrol late form and return it to Hwb via ServiceNow. Once you have received your University login credentials, you will be able to access Service Now and your Student Email (outlook). Both of these systems are really important if you'll be arriving late:

You will use ServiceNow to submit your official request for Late Arrival using the form and link above.
You will receive a decision from your Late Arrival Request to your Student Email (outlook).

Guidance on accessing your University IT Account & Email can be found here

IMPORTANT: In order to avoid financial and emotional distress, students should not travel to the UK until they have received confirmation of any new latest enrolment date from their Faculty/Education Journeys Team.

Timeline

You should ensure that you are aware of the timeline below and that these could change based on any permitted changes to your latest enrolment date.

Timeline	Action
7 days before your latest enrolment date	If you are still waiting for an outcome on your visa application, you should consider withdrawing your visa application. Please read the section below on withdrawing your visa application carefully.
7 days before your latest enrolment date	If you believe you are going to be able to meet your last enrolment date, pay your fees at this point to prevent risk of non-enrolment. Please see the following information for How to Pay Your Fees
Weekend before your latest enrolment date	You should be travelling to the UK at this point at the very latest. If you cannot travel by this time, you should not travel. Please see the travel and accommodation section below.

Withdrawing your visa application

If this page confirms that your latest enrolment date is within the next 5-7 days, and you have not yet receieved a visa decision,, it is very important that you take action as quickly as possible to withdraw your visa application. This should trigger at least a partial refund of any fees paid as part of the visa application process. This is very easy to do from inside your UKVI account but as it can take 5-7 working days for UKVI to process a withdrawal request, it is important that you act quickly or your visa may be issued but you won’t be able to use it to enrol on the course. The process and guidance for doing this can be found on the UK Government website here: Cancel your visa, immigration or citizenship application: Cancel your application - GOV.UK. Keep any evidence of the withdrawal request for your records.

As legally required, Swansea University will take steps to notify the UKVI that you are not able to enrol on your course. The University will withdraw its sponsorship and/or will take steps to withdraw the CAS that has been issued to you. Withdrawal of sponsorship will usually result in any in any pending visa applications being refused and/or entry to the UK being denied at the Border. Any visa that has already been issue will subsequently be cancelled by the UKVI and cannot be used for any later course intakes. Please be aware of this.

Travel and Accommodation

This Guide below contains useful information to help you plan your journey from your Port of Entry (airport, major city etc) to Swansea and the University itself.

It also has very comprehensive information on looking for short, and longer term, accommodation plus additional concerns such as contracts, furnishings and finances.

The Guide can be used either pre-arrival or once you have arrived in the UK (or even for sending to friends and family who may be planning a visit).

UK Travel and Accommodation: An International Students' Guide

Deferring/suspending your course

New students: if you cannot enrol, you can request to defer your course start date to a later intake. Please contact the relevant Admissions team:

Undergraduate Courses: Admissions@swansea.ac.uk

Postgraduate Courses:  Postgraduate.Admissions@swansea.ac.uk

A new CAS and visa application submitted from overseas would be required for any future intakes.

Continuing students: Contact Hwb via ServiceNow to request to suspend your studies if you cannot enrol. This will mean that you can return at the next available start of session.