Visa Responsibilities

It is very important that you understand and follow the conditions of your Student Route visa. This is so you do not put yourself at risk of immigration breach- which could have a significant impact on your ability to remain and study in the UK.

Through accepting our Student Route sponsorship (using our CAS), you have responsibilities both to us as your Student Route sponsor and to the UK Visas and Immigration dept. (UKVI). The University can withdraw Student Route sponsorship if made aware that you are breaching Student Route requirejments.

This page provides guidance to help you protect your Student Route visa and ensure you fully understand its conditions.

Please read this information provided very carefully.

You must ensure that you enrol on your course within the permitted enrolment dates (whether at the start of or designated re-enrolment points throughout your course). Failure to do so will result in your University Student Route sponsorship being withdrawn and the UKVI being notified. Your visa will then fall for automatic/mandatory curtailment (shortening/cancellation). Once Sponsorship has been withdrawn you must cease all work or study in the UK, notify any accommodation provider and return home. If you have missed the lastest enrolment date, your CAS/Sponsorship for that intake has been withdrawn and you have not travelled to the UK- you must not do so. Your UKVI record will indicate that visa sponsorship has been your will be refused entry at the UK Border.

Please see the University's Enrolment and Induction page for further information.

You must ensure that you pay your tuition fees within the permitted payment dates (whether at the start of or designated payment points throughout your course). Failure to do so will result in your University Student Route sponsorship being withdrawn and the UKVI being notified. Your visa will then fall for automatic/mandatory curtailment (shortening/cancellation). Once Sponsorship has been withdrawn you must cease all work or study in the UK, notify any accommodation provider and return home.

Please see the University's How to Pay your Fees- International Students page for further information.

It is very important that you understand and adhere to the University's Engagement Monitoring Policy. The UKVI check student's attendance on demand and via audit. To keep you safe, we must be able to evidence that you are attending classes and fully engaging with your studies.


Taught students: are required to swipe their student card at every teaching event. There is also an option to check-in weekly via the Safezohne app- we suggest you do this as it strengthens your attendance record.

Teaching events could include:
• Lectures
• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Supervision meetings
• Exams

You should also ensure that you submit all your coursework on time and attend all your exams.

Research students: are required to have minimum monthly face to face meetings with their supervisors. These meeting are not permitted to be online unless you have formal University permission to be undertaking a period of remote research, placement or data gathering.

Placement students: are required to to follow the processes communicated to them by their Faculty or relevant teams. This will demonstrate your engagement during placement periods

You must ensure that you meet the University's attendance monitoring requirements. Failure to do so may result in your University Student Route sponsorship being withdrawn and the UKVI being notified. Your visa will then fall for automatic/mandatory curtailment (shortening/cancellation). Once Sponsorship has been withdrawn you must cease all work or study in the UK, notify any accommodation provider and return home. 

Please see the University's Engagement Monitoring pages for further information.

The University and the UKVI both expect all students to live within a reasonable communting distance of their place of study. You should consider the travel time and costs when choosing your accommodation. Your place of residence will not be considered a valid reason for failing to meet the University’s Engagement Monitoring, or other University, requirements. The University may request further details about your place of living (e.g. your accommodation contract) if there is cause for concern (including safeguarding concerns).

You must also keep your UK address, telephone number and personal email up to date on your student record. You can do that yourself via the University Intranet. 

The University must provide details of a student's current and historical addresses to the UKVI on demand and during audit- so it is very important that you update your record everytime you move house.

It is very important that you know, understand and adhere to any working restrictions applied to your Student Route visa.

You must not work more than the hours listed on your eVisa. This will usually either be 10 hours (below degree level students) or 20 hours (degree level and above students) per week during term time. Check your eVisa to make sure that you have the correct conditions.

As a Student Route visa holder, there are also restrictions on the type of work you can do. There is some helpful guidance about types of work on the UKCISA website.

Further, comprehensive, information can be found on the Working during your studies page, so make sure you are reading that carefully.

IMPORTANT: If you are withdrawn or suspended from your course at any point you must also stop working. The UKVI will be aware of your change in circumstances, as the University has a legal responsibility to update them, so continuing to work when you are not studying puts you at significant risk of being caught in breach of your visa conditions and your future studies in jeopardy.



 

An eVisa is a digital record of your immigration status and related conditions.

In order to travel to the UK or prove your immigration status (e.g. Right to Study or Work), you will need to set up your UKVI account and link your passport or travel document. Make sure that you do this as soon as your visa is granted.

You can find guidance on how to set up your UKVI account on the Gov.UK/eVisa web page and about proving your status on our eVisas and Digital Immigration Status web page.

Make sure you keep your UKVI account uptodate if you change any of your details (see the Update your EVisa account details section below).

You need to ensure that you update any changes to your details in your eVisa account immediately.

These include changes to:
• passport or travel document
• name
• mobile phone number
• email address
• home address
• postal address

Having incorrect details could cause you future issues with the UKVI and provide a problem during any travel iand out of the UK.

You can find further information on updating your details on the Update your eVisa details page on the Gov.UK website.

You need to inform the University immediately if you have made a change to your passport or visa. It is very important that University records reflect a student's exact situation at all times. This information is subject to UKVI demand or audit- so not keeping the University uptodate puts both you and the University's Sponsor Licence at risk.

The correct University email for reporting changes is: VISA.Compliance@Swansea.ac.uk 

New passport: if your old passport expires before your new passport arrives, ensure that you let the VISA Compliance team know that you have made an application for a new one. You should include any evidence that you have of making that application (such as an email confirmation of an application or Embassy appointment). As soon as you get your new passport, you should provide a copy of it to the team using the email above. Make sure you also update your eVisa account with your new passport details (as per the Update your eVisa account details section above).

New Visa: If you have applied for and received a new visa, you will need to make an appointment to see the VISA Compliance Team in person, so they can undertake a Right to Study check to update your student record and enable you to enrol online if required. Please see our Right to Study pages for more information. 

IMPORTANT: If your new eVisa is going to be issued after your old visa expires, and you made that application in the UK, you would need to provide evidence that your new visa application was made before your old visa expired. This is called making an 'in time' application, it offers you protection under a special immigration clause called Section 3c, and will provide ongoing Right to Study whilst your new visa application is still being assessed by the UKVI. This would usually be evidenced by sending the VISA Compliance team the application checklist and/or IHS confirmation for your new visa application. Failure to provide evidence that you made an 'in time' application will mean your withdrawal from the University until such a time that your immigration status is resolved. Once you have received your new visa, you can follow the New Visa process above.

ATAS is the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) run Academic Technology Approval Scheme. It requires some postgraduate students, who are studying certain courses or carrying out research in the fields of science, engineering or technology, to gain a certificate of clearance to study. Students who require an ATAS will usually be informed as part of the University CAS issuing process. If you are an ATAS student, you will need to provide your ATAS certifcate to the VISA Compliance team as part of your Right to Study check.

You will also need to apply for a new ATAS if your course length is extended by mre than 3 months or the modules you are studying change from those you noted on your original ATAS application. You will need to make the new ATAS application within 28 calendar days of confirmation of the change and this new ATAS Certificate would need to be included in any related visa application which you are making.

In all cases, once you have recieved your new ATAS Certificate, you should email it to VISA.Compliance@swansea.ac.uk- as it is a condition of study. Failure to have a valid ATAS certificate, if required, can result in your University Student Route sponsorship being withdrawn and the UKVI being notified. Your visa will then fall for automatic/mandatory curtailment (shortening/cancellation). Once Sponsorship has been withdrawn you must cease all work or study in the UK, notify any accommodation provider and return home.

There is comprehensive guidance about ATAS requirements and the application process on our ATAS web page. 

It is very important that you check your University student email account regularly (i.e. at least twice weekly). Research student should be aware that this is the email used by Professional Services linked to your Student Route visa.

Never ignore an email from studentattendance@swansea.ac.uk; VISA.Compliance@swansea.ac.uk  or VISA.Advice@swansea.ac.uk Those are the emails that the University will use to contact you about your own situation or provide important information about any chnages to University or government policy that may affect your visa.

You should also make sure you regularly check the email linked to your eVisa- as that is the email that UKVI will use to contact you with any queries aout your situation or visa.

You should always make sure that you leave the UK or apply for a new visa before your current visa expires. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and means that you will be classed as an illegal overstayer in the UK. As an overstayer, you would no longer have the right to work or study in the UK and should cease doing so immediately. 

There is no amount of time 'permissable' to overstay your visa. Visa applications made in the UK after more than 14 days overstay would usually fall for automatic refusal (except with significant evidence of exceptional and compelling circumstances- such as being hospitalised). People who overstay their visas for more than 30 days will face an automatic 1 year UK re-entry ban. In all cases you would have declare your overstay on every future visa application you make. You may be asked to provide evidence of why it was not possible for you to leave in a timely manner. 

Caution should be applied if you are thinking about making an ad hoc visa application purely to 'buy more time' in the UK- often to access results or wait an appeal outcome. In those cases, in order to keep yourself safe and prevent future CAS issuing problems, you should leave the UK and await the outcome from home. These ad hoc applications may be via a Fee Waiver, under FLR(HRO)- medical, Asylum or another route and the application may be being made in the hope that the University will later issue a CAS statement from within the UK and the first application can be varied. We would not recommend this course of action as it is very risky, you may be refused a CAS if you have not taken University advice to return home and could also result in the UKVI making a visa refusal on the basis of deception. Further information about making an application as an overstayer can be found in the UKVI Caseworker Guidance: Applications from overstayers.

As an overstayer you would automatically be suspended or withdrawn from your course. A CAS would not usually be issued to a student who is in the UK on an expired visa and Proof of Exit would be required for further CAS assessment to take place. For a CAS to be issued, students would usually need to provide evidence of exceptional and compelling circumstances which led to them not being able to leave the UK. Further information and the CAS Issuing Policy can be found on the CAS for continuing students page. 

The VISA Advice team email all students whose visas are expiring within 3, 2 and 1 month. Make sure you engage with those emails, do not leave things until the last minute and take steps to leave the UK promptly if that is what you need to do to keep yourself safe.

A Graduate Route visa is not granted automatically to all students and you need to make sure that you are aware of circumstances which may affect your eligibility to apply. Universities do not have a responsibility to ensure all students can apply to the Graduate Route- though we would usually look to support where safe and legal to do so.

Reasons for students forfeiting eligibility are:

• Failure to complete the course their CAS was issued for (being awarded an EXIT Award)
• Failure to complete their course on time
• Completing their course as a 'final 3rd chance' External Student
• Outstanding University fees preventing graduation/UKVI reporting
• Not having a valid Student Route visa at time of Graduate Route application
• Having outstanding appeal or academic misconduct cases
• Getting a Graduate Route deception refusal on the basis of having made a spurious 'stop gap' application (such as a Fee Waiver, FLR(HRO)- medical, Asylum etc)

All these forfeits are avoidable for most students.

It is very important to realise that you cannot be issued a CAS purely to wait in the UK for results or the outcome of an appeal etc. Unfortunately, if you have resits, extensions or other changes to your course (especially if these are multiple) you push yourself out of the standard academic calendar and your visa may not cover any additional time needed for results. Unfortunately, the University is not able/obligated to provide CAS statements purely for students to be able to make Graduate Route application, a CAS must be issued to support necessary in UK study only.

Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are fully applying yourself to your studies as your priority, that you pay your fees, you act with academic integrity and that you complete your course on time in order to protect your Graduate Route eligibility.

All students are expected to be truthful and cooperate with the University.

We expect you to act with honesty and integrity in all your dealings with the University and to cooperate with all reasonable information and action requests made by the University to ensure compliance with UKVI guidance. 

The University's VISA Advice immigration team has specialist Advisers to help you navigate the UK immigration system (particularly regarding the Student Route). However, they can only advise on information given. Failure to provide, or attempts to withold or subvert, information will affect their ability to support you effectively. Staff genuinely want to help students, they need to have all the information possible to try and find safe and workable solutions for you. 

Lack of engagement with the VISA teams and ignoring advice or messages may be taken into consideration as part of the CAS issuing process.

We must comply with UKVI rules and so must you.