Immigration Support

Student Visa Checkpoints

Students on Tier 4 or Student visas are required to complete two Visa Checkpoints as part of their visa requirements, per academic year.

​These normally take place in Semester 1 (October/November) and Semester 2 (Feb/March).

Find out more here

Attendance Spot-checks

Your School’s attendance team will carry out ‘spot-check’ inspections throughout the year by comparing your classes' student card swipe records, against a paper register. Students will not be warned in advance of these checks. 

You must attend your timetabled lectures in full; should you need to leave a class early, you must report to your School Support Office before leaving campus.

If a spot-check shows that your student card has been swiped for a class but your name is not on the written register, you will receive an email (Unimail) instructing you to report to the International Office in Student Central with your student card, in order for us to verify that you are present at the University. 

A spot-check discrepancy may lead to a withdrawal from your course and your visa being curtailed. 

Working during your studies

As a Student visa holder you will normally be allowed to work for up to 20 hours per week during term time and full-time during holiday periods. 

The University recommends that you do not work more than 15 hours per week during term time to enable you to focus on your studies. 

Find out more

 

Career Support

Our Careers team have a dedicated webpage for international students, you can find it here

Changes to study

As a student you may experience various changes in circumstances, which may have an impact on your Student visa. This means that we may be required to report these changes to the Home Office as part of the University’s sponsor duties.

Find out more here

During your entire period of study at the University you must:

• Ensure that you comply with the Regulations for current students. 
• Attend all classes.
• Apply for an authorised absence via your school if you need to take a break from your study. The University will consider authorised absences as per our attendance monitoring procedures (Taught students and Research/PhD students) . Please discuss any request for authorised absence with your school to check if you are eligible. Then submit and Authorised Absence Request Form and wait for approval from the Immigration team in the International Office. Please do not travel until you have received confirmation from the Immigration team that your absence has been authorised.
• Ensure that you do not work more than 20 hours per week in-term.
• Regularly check your university email (Unimail).
• Ensure your contact number and personal email on MyHud is always up to date.
• Re-enrol for each subsequent year of your course.
  • If your address in the UK changes you must: Inform the University and update the new address on MyHud.
  • Inform the Home Office of your new address.

• If you obtain a new passport, email a scanned copy to the immigration team.
• If you change your visa or immigration category, email the immigration team.
• Make sure you do not remain in the UK beyond the expiry of your visa.
• Comply with any other requirements of your Student visa.

What is the Graduate Route? 

This Graduate visa route allows international students who have successfully completed a degree course, to work in the UK without being sponsored by an employer. 

• 2-year visa if you have completed an undergraduate or masters degree 
• 3-year visa if you have completed a PhD or other doctoral degree  

Find out more here

Travelling while you study 

Traveling during official vacation periods

Traveling outside the UK during the official vacation period e.g. Christmas/New Year or Easter should be fine. You should refer to the official university term dates before making any travel plans.

Most international students visiting one of the European countries will need a Schengen visa. You can apply for the visa online yourself, however you may require a ‘student status letter’ to confirm that you’re a student at the University. You can either download the letter from MyHud or contact the iPoint team in Student Central. 

Make sure to take your BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) with you whilst traveling abroad as you will need it to re-enter the UK.

If you have applied for a Student Visa or a visa extension in the UK and are waiting for a decision on your application, you cannot travel outside the UK as you wouldn’t be able to re-enter the UK without a BRP.

Travelling during term time

You must discuss this with your school before making any travel plans as you are required to attend all your classes or expected contact points during term time.

For a short absence, you must complete the authorised absence form that your school’s admin support team can provide. You must complete this form, attach the required evidence, and submit it to your school. Your school will give an initial approval of your request before forwarding it to the immigration team in the international office. Once approved the immigration team will email you an absence confirmation letter. Please do not travel until you have received this.

The table below demonstrates the categories of leave which is usually permitted as authorised absence.

Category	Allowable period	Evidence requirements
Pregnancy & birth (refer to the University’s Pregnancy Policy)	Taught: up to 4 weeks Research: up to 6 weeks	Medical documentation
Paternity leave	Up to 2 weeks	Medical documentation
Sickness or ill-health	Up to 2 weeks, longer periods may require student to suspend	Sick note or other evidence from the student’s GP/specialist
Sick relative or dependant	Up to 2 weeks	Reliable 3rd party evidence/medical certificate
Close family bereavement	Up to 2 weeks	Reliable 3rd party evidence/death certificate
Victim of serious crime	Up to 2 weeks	Crime number/police report
Conference outside the UK	Up to 1 week	Supervisor confirmation
Involvement in competitive sports at national or international level	Up to 2 weeks	Reliable 3rd party evidence
Study visit/Data collection outside the UK	Up to 60 days for PGR and up to 3 weeks for PGT, 0 days for UG	Supervisor/tutor confirmation
PGT holiday at dissertation stage	Up to 2 weeks at dissertation stage	Supervisor/tutor confirmation
Annual leave (PGR only)	35 days (except where leave likely to impact on progress of a research project or where there are funding implications)	n/a Approved locally by school on the annual leave card, not by the Immigration team

 

Travelling after the end of your course

If are planning to travel after your course has ended, or during the additional period at the end of your visa then this should be fine, however upon your return to the UK, the UK Border officials may ask you about the reason for returning to the UK. You should be able to provide a valid reason, for example you’re returning to apply for the Graduate Route visa, to start a new course or to attend the graduation ceremony etc.