Course changes can affect your Student visa and may require you to apply for new ATAS clearance and/or a new Student visa before you can change programmes.

You must check with your Academic School whether your new course requires ATAS clearance. This is required for certain science or engineering postgraduate-level courses, or for integrated masters courses (e.g. MEng). If you do require ATAS clearance you must apply for an ATAS certificate and have received this before you can start studying your new course.

You need to read the information in our course change guide to check if you need to apply for a new visa before you can change your course. 

If your situation requires that you apply for a new Student visa then you should check if you can apply in the UK. If you must return home, you should contact your School administrator to confirm the dates you can do this. Students are advised to apply for this as soon as possible because visa application fees are only likely to increase each year and the immigration rules may change in the future.

The University is required to report to UKVI that we are no longer sponsoring your Student visa if you interrupt your studies for more than 60 days unless you are a research student who has requested an interruption for maternity leave. This report will start the curtailment (cancellation) of your visa. 

Once an interruption has been confirmed by the University, you will receive an email from the Student Immigration Team confirming a report has been submitted to UKVI. Once the report has been submitted:

• you no longer have the right to work in the UK;  
• anyone who is dependent on your Student visa will also lose the conditions of their visa and will need to return home with you;
• your reason for being in the UK (study) no longer exists - you should not plan to stay in the UK for more than 60 days after the date you receive the email confirming our report to UKVI;
• you should not travel out of the UK and then attempt to return on your Student visa. 

UKVI should email you to confirm your new visa expiry date, which is usually 60 days from the date of the letter or email. Curtailments can sometimes be delayed though, so you should plan to leave the UK as soon as possible once you have started your interruption. You should also be aware that time spent in the UK waiting for your visa to be curtailed still counts towards UKVI's time limits of study in the UK.

If you are receiving NHS treatment, you should be aware that your entitlement to access such treatment will end when your visa expires. If you are not able to travel, you will need to make an FLR (HRO) application for leave to remain in the UK outside the immigration rules. As part of this application, you will have to make an Immigration Healthcare Surcharge payment which will give you access to NHS treatment on the same basis as you have as a Student visa holder. We recommend that you seek advice from a solicitor to assist with your FLR (HRO) application. Guidance on how to choose a solicitor is available from the Law Society.

When you are planning to return to your studies, you must contact us to confirm your situation before you return. If you have not obtained immigration permission in another category that permits study (e.g. FLR (HRO)) you will need to make a new Student visa application from your home country before resuming your course.

You are entitled to take a study break of up to 12- months following the birth of your baby. However, as there is no specific "maternity leave" provision within a Student visa, the length of leave that you take may have implications on your visa.

Students on taught programmes

We can maintain sponsorship of your Student visa for a period of maternity leave taken in the UK that does not exceed 60 days of term-time absence.

Depending on the timing of your absence in the academic year and the nature of your course, there may be a delay in you being able to rejoin your programme for programme timetabling reasons. While we would expect to be able to maintain your visa sponsorship over the normal vacation periods for your programme, we will not be able to maintain visa sponsorship for term-time absence beyond 60 days where you are simply waiting to resume your programme.

We strongly advise that you contact the Student Immigration Team to discuss your situation. This is particularly important because the length of your maternity leave may mean that you and any dependants need to leave the UK. As the UKVI has severely restricted the circumstances in which taught students can bring dependants to the UK, you need to be fully informed about the visa implications of your situation so that you can plan accordingly.

Students on research programmes

We can maintain sponsorship of your Student visa for a period of maternity leave taken in the UK or overseas that does not exceed 4-months.

Given the individually distinct nature of research degrees, it is expected that your interactions and milestones on returning to study will be adjusted to accommodate this leave. Further, the use of the 4-month ‘wrap-up’ period that the UKVI has already added to your visa duration should mean that your visa is still of sufficient duration to cover your programme.

If you plan to take a period of maternity leave that is longer than 4-months, you should contact the Student Immigration Team for advice.

Paternity Leave and the Impact on Your Student Visa

A total of two weeks’ paternity leave may be taken at any time during a partner’s pregnancy or within three months following birth. There is no specific "paternity leave" provision within a Student visa, however a short absence would not generally have visa implications unless it impacted your assessment and progression. We recommend that you contact your Student Support or Doctoral Academy Support Hub as appropriate in the first instance to discuss the timing and potential impact on your programme of your planned absence.

If you are re-sitting the current academic year without attendance the University will report this to UKVI. We will email you when this report has been sent to UKVI with further guidance. Your Student visa will be curtailed and UKVI will contact you with a new visa expiry date, generally 60 days from the date of curtailment. You must leave the UK before this new visa expiry (curtailment) date.

If you need to return to the UK to re-sit any exams during this period you will need to apply for a new visa to return to the UK.

If you will return to your studies within 60 days of your re-sit exams (e.g. your exams are in August and you will resume regular attendance in September) then you should be eligible to apply for a new Student visa to return to the UK. You should contact your School and request a new Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to apply within 3 months of your exam dates. This new visa will cover the exam dates and your remaining course. However, if you do not pass your exams and continue with your course as expected, the Student Immigration Team will notify UKVI and email you confirmation of this. UKVI will then curtail your visa and contact you with a new visa expiry date.

If your re-sit exams are not within 60 days of the date you will otherwise resume your course then you cannot apply for a Student visa and must instead apply for a Standard Visitor visa from outside the UK in order to return. You would then need to leave the UK after your exams and, if your results permit you to continue studying your course in attendance, you may then be apply for a new Student visa using a new CAS issued by your School if you have still further study to undertake.

If you are re-taking course modules or re-taking an academic year in full attendance then you can continue to study in the UK on your current Student visa. You may need to extend your Student visa to complete your course as a result of re-taking your studies, and you can apply in the UK three months before your current visa expires. You would need to request a new CAS from your School to apply for the extension once your visa expiry is only three months away.

Masters students needing an extension

If you need more time in the UK to complete your Masters course (e.g. to submit your dissertation), you should contact your programme administration team to ask whether a continuer CAS can be issued to enable you to apply for a new visa. If your school or department agree that a CAS can be issued, and that they can continue to monitor you, then you will be able to apply for a new Student visa. However, you will not eligible to apply from within the UK and must return home before your current visa expires and apply for a new Student visa to return. See our guidance on applying from outside the UK. 

If your school/department does not agree that a new CAS should be issued but you want to return to the UK (e.g. to attend graduation), then the Standard Visitor visa route should be suitable for you. Please be aware though that in this situation, you will not be eligible for the Graduate visa after completing your course as you will not have a valid Student visa.

If you change your study location at any time during your course your School will update your record to show that you are studying elsewhere. This includes if you are studying abroad or are on a placement year. The Student Immigration Team will inform UKVI of this change of study location.

You must ensure that your address details in MyManchester are updated with where you are living during any placement or study-abroad period you undertake.

If you complete your course more than a month earlier than expected the University will report this to UKVI. The report is based on the expected course end date on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) that you used to apply for your current Student visa.

You will be emailed by the Student Immigration Team once we have notified UKVI that you have completed your course early. Depending on how much time is left on your visa, UKVI may curtail your visa and contact you with a new expiry date. If you completed your course and achieved the qualification for which your CAS was issued then you should still have a 4-month period of leave after your actual course completion date. We would therefore advise that you leave the UK or switch to a different immigration category within four months of the date of our report.

You should regularly check your emails for UKVI's curtailment notice. You cannot travel back to the UK on your Student visa once it is curtailed, even if the expiry date is still in the future.

If you decide to defer the start of your course to the next academic year then you need to inform both the Student Immigration Team and your School/Department.

If you have not used your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to apply for a visa then your CAS will be withdrawn and you will receive a new CAS in the future to apply for a visa based on your deferred course start date.

If you have already applied for a visa using your CAS the University will inform UKVI of your deferral. Your Student visa will be cancelled and you will not be able to use it to travel to the UK. You will need to request a new CAS and apply for a new visa within 3 months of your deferred course start date. In such circumstances, you will unfortunately not be eligible for a refund of your visa application fee or Immigration Health Surcharge.

If you leave or are withdrawn from your course then the University is required to report this to UKVI and you will be emailed by the Student Immigration Team once this has been done. UKVI will then curtail (shorten) your Student visa and email you a curtailment notice confirming a new visa expiry date which replaces your original one. Your visa should be curtailed within 60 days but the process can take longer.

You will need to leave the UK or make an alternative valid visa application before your curtailed visa expiry date. The University cannot predict when UKVI will curtail your visa, so the safest option is for you to leave the UK or make an valid visa application (where you are eligible) within 60 days of the date we email you to confirm that we have informed UKVI of your withdrawal.

As your work rights are connected to your status as an active full-time student, you no longer have the right to work once your withdrawal is reported to UKVI and so you must stop working immediately and refrain from carrying out any further work whilst you are still in the UK.