Important information for international applicants to The University of Manchester under the Points-Based System.
The UK has introduced a Points-Based System (PBS) for immigration. Tier 4 of this system will affect international students from outside the EEA/EU who are applying for entry clearance/a student visa to come to the UK, or those who are already studying in the UK and applying for a new course. The system is intended to produce a more transparent and objective application process to benefit all parties. Under the system, applicants will need to be sponsored by an institution that is registered as an official sponsor.
This is a letter produced by the University that you need when you apply for a visa to study. It outlines information about you and your course of study. It also includes details of your course fees, and the qualifications we used to assess your application to study at the University. You need this letter to apply for your visa.
Yes, The University of Manchester is an A-rated and officially licensed sponsor.
We will issue your visa letter as soon as you accept an unconditional offer with us, or accept a conditional offer and meet your offer conditions.
The academic school to which you have applied will send you a visa letter.
Yes, your visa letter will contain all mandatory fields required by UKBA. It will not include your passport number or date of birth as these are optional fields.
You only need to provide the documents requested with the visa application. If you include additional letters or documents which are not necessary you may increase the risk of your application being refused or it may take longer to process. You should include:
We may send you a PDF file of the visa letter for information, but this must not be used in your Tier 4 visa application. Latest information from UKBA on supporting documents.
You must be able to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds, in addition to your tuition fees, to live in the UK.
You must normally show that you have held this money for a 28-day period ending no more than one month before your visa application. Until September 2009, the UKBA has operated a concession allowing students to show only that have the required funds in place on the date when they apply. This concession ended on 1 October 2009.
However, as it is recognised that many students already in the United Kingdom will not have needed to show this money before, it has been decided to allow a longer transitional period for all Tier 4 applications made within the UK.
Prospective students making a Tier 4 application from inside the United Kingdom before February 2010 will only need to show that they have the money needed on the day when they apply. They must still provide the correct documents to support their application.
From 1 October 2009, prospective students applying from outside the UK must show that they have held the required money for a 28-day period ending no more than one month before the date of their application.
Detailed information on the financial requirements is available in the UKBA Quick Guide:
Where funds have to be held for three months before the application is made, Tier 4 (student) applications have to show funds held as follows:
In all cases, the documents showing where the funds are held must not be dated more than one month before the date of your application. For example, if you make your application on 15 August 2009, the bank statement must not be dated before 15 July 2009.
Under the current rules (until 21 August 2009) the funds must be held in an account in the name of the student applying for the visa.
We have, however, been advised that from 21 August, students will be allowed to use bank statements in their parents' names as evidence of funds. We anticipate that the UKBA will be releasing more information on 21 August which we will display on this website as it is announced.
On 5 October 2009, new Tier 4 students' permission to stay in the UK will be 'tied' to the education provider that is sponsoring them. From 5 October, every new Tier 4 student will find their sponsor's reference number on the vignette in their passport or on their identity card for foreign nationals.
In future, if you wish to study with a new Tier 4 sponsor and you made your last application for a Tier 4 visa on or after 5 October 2009, it will be necessary to apply for a new Tier 4 visa. You must not begin to study with the new education provider until you have received a decision on the outcome of your application.
The UKBA has assured that they will make every effort to ensure that applications from students wishing to change education providers are considered within the published service standard, so that they can move to the new education provider as quickly as possible.
If a student wants to study with a new Tier 4 sponsor, and they made their last application for a Tier 4 visa before 5 October 2009, they will continue to be allowed to change their sponsor without making a new Tier 4 application. They must, however, seek permission from UKBA to change their sponsor.
UKBA has produced a new FAQ document for students applying under Tier 4.
You will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat (downloadable from Adobe) to view PDF files. PDF files open in a new window.
Those students returning to continue their studies and needing to extend their permission to remain in the UK should visit the Crucial Guide website.
If your query is not covered by the above, please email our PBS Support Team at pbs@manchester.ac.uk.
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