How to get a UK Tier 4 General student visa

A Tier 4 General visa is required to study in the UK. It is issued to adults or children 16–17 years old if they go to the Foundation’s undergraduate program.

Tier 4 visa needs to be taken seriously: the embassy has strict document requirements, every detail needs to be checked.

We asked Ekaterina Mikheeva, who has been helping clients get visas for more than seven years, how to collect documents and how much it all costs.

Hello! My name is Ekaterina Mikheeva and I work as a visa specialist at LinguaTrip.

When I first started working with British visas, I was very afraid to apply for Tier 4. The fees for this visa are high, it often has to be processed in a short time, and the document requirements are quite strict. Therefore, any mistake can be fatal: if a visa is denied, there is a risk of simply not having time to submit documents again.

However, now Tier 4 is my favorite visa! Jokes aside. I’ve been helping students get their visas for seven years now, and Tier 4 Policy Guidance is my go-to book. And during this time I realized why I love this visa so much: if you collect all the documents correctly, in 99.9% of cases the visa will be approved! What can not be said, for example, about visas to the USA and Canada. The embassies of these countries have a subjective attitude towards applicants: even if you collect a complete package of documents, there is a risk of being refused.

With a Tier 4 General visa, everything is much simpler: if you follow all the rules and recommendations (and also if you have not had dark spots in your biography like deportations and visa violations), everything will be fine!

And now let’s figure out how to collect documents correctly in order to reduce the probability of refusal to zero.

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

CAS, or Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, is the main document without which you simply cannot apply for a visa. A Tier 4 visa is issued strictly for an educational institution. You can’t get a visa first, and then decide where to go to study.

In CAS indicate:

• student’s first and last name;
• date of birth;
• passport number;
• name of the training course;
• Terms of study in the UK;
• confirmation of full or partial payment;
• Documents on the basis of which the student was enrolled in an educational institution.

Pitfalls and life hacks

• If the CAS says that you were accepted to the university on the basis of a high school diploma and an IELTS certificate, you need to provide these documents, and not any others.
• A new CAS for each visa application. If your student visa is denied and you wish to reapply, the CAS will need to be re-applied.
• Check the CAS carefully: if an error is found at the embassy, ​​the visa will be denied. Universities, even British ones, can make mistakes too. Sometimes the passport number or date of birth is incorrectly indicated. Sometimes – the data of the documents on the basis of which you were enrolled (for example, your certificate or diploma was issued in 2019, but the CAS says that it was issued in 2015). If you find an error, report it to the university. A new CAS will be made approximately in a few days (check the exact date at the university). It is better to wait and submit documents without errors than to be rejected and go through the whole process again.
• If you have paid part or all of your tuition, check if there is proof of payment in CAS. If not, the document needs to be redone, because you will not be able to prove at the embassy the fact of payment in another way.

Tier 4 Finance

Financial documents are the most common reason for rejection. The financial requirements are extensive and quite strict, and out of ignorance, you can submit completely the wrong documents. Here’s what you need to pay attention to:

• Money for tuition and living expenses must be in the account of the student, parents or legal guardian. Grandma, older brother, or best friend’s accounts will not work.
• Money for tuition and living expenses must be in the bank account for at least 28 days. This is an ironclad rule. Therefore, prepare the amount in advance and put it into the account. You cannot withdraw money until you have received a visa.
• The availability of funds is confirmed by a bank statement or a certificate. The main thing is that the document confirms that you have the required amount in stock and that this money has been in the account for at least 28 days.
• If the sponsors of your trip are your parents, be sure to attach a birth certificate to the package of documents to confirm the relationship, and a sponsorship letter.
• Make sure you have enough money. The required amount includes: the cost of education for the first year and money for living. If you have paid part of the tuition, and this is indicated in the CAS, you can deduct the amount from the annual tuition fee. You can calculate money for living on the website gov.uk.

On the Internet, they often write that you need to show a certificate of employment, that is, a source of income. This is not true. For a Tier 4 General visa, only bank documents are required. This is a big plus, there is no need to explain long and painfully where the money for education came from.

Compressed deadlines

Usually, universities enter after school or after graduation from the university, if it is a master’s degree. But in Russia, diplomas and certificates are issued in the summer, in late June – early July. Therefore, two months remain to prepare and obtain a visa. Do not delay the submission of documents until September, so as not to miss the start of studies.

Your documents can be reviewed both in a week and a month – one and a half, as you’re lucky. There is a service of accelerated consideration of documents, but this is possible only for an additional fee. Therefore, you need to prepare for admission as early as possible.

If you were refused and want to apply again, consider the deadline for obtaining a new CAS.

TB test, TB test

To get a UK student visa, you need to pass a TB test. Yes, it’s not pleasant, but it’s impossible to do without it. This can be done only in clinics accredited by the embassy. The certificate that you will be given at the clinic after the analysis is valid for six months. Therefore, you can pass a medical examination even before you receive a CAS and collect a package of documents. The main thing is that the certificate is still valid at the time of your entry into the UK.

There are few special clinics in Russia, addresses can be found on the website gov.uk. The cost of a medical examination varies from 5,000 ₽ to 8,000 ₽, depending on the clinic and exchange rates.

Student visa interview

Great and terrible? Not at all. Many are afraid of this interview, because they consider it decisive in the visa issue. The truth is that this interview does not affect the decision to grant a visa, so do not worry. The task is not to cut you off at the interview, but simply to make sure that you speak English and that your goal is to study.

A short interview is at the discretion of the visa officer. It will take place at the visa center via Skype, when you come to hand over your passport and biometric data (fingerprints and biometric photo).

If you are under 18

Sometimes students aged 16-17 apply for a Tier 4 General visa who are going to the Foundation program (preparation for undergraduate admission). To submit documents from minors, you must additionally provide:

• information about the student’s place of residence (host family);
• birth certificate;
• notarial consent of the parents for the departure of the child. If one of the parents is absent for some reason (died or deprived of parental rights), documentary evidence must be provided.

Important: All documents must be translated into English.

How much does a UK student visa cost

• Consular fee – 400 pounds.
• Medical insurance – 300 pounds per year.
• LinguaTrip services – $180.

If you have questions or you are applying for a visa yourself, but you are not sure that you are doing everything right, leave a request for consultation at LinguaTrip.