Travelling to the UK

Your course start date is the date given on your CAS. If you are doing a course that is six months or longer, or for a pre-sessional course that is less than six months, you will be able to come to the UK up to one month before the start date of your course. If you are doing a course that is less than six months in length (and is not a pre-sessional), you will be able to travel seven days before your course start date.

If you are studying a course longer than 6 months and you did not apply using the UK Immigration: ID Check app then you should be issued as a 90 day entry vignette (sticker) in your passport to evidence to UK Border Officials on entry to the UK. 

If you are studying a course of less than 6 months and didn't use the app, the entry visa you receive in your passport should be endorsed to cover you for the full duration of your course and you should not need to collect a BRP once you arrive in the UK.

If you cannot travel to the UK before the latest acceptance date on your CAS you may need to defer the start of your course. If your arrival in the UK is delayed, you must contact the admissions team in your department or school to ask them if they can extend your latest arrival date. If you cannot arrive in the UK before this date then you may not be permitted to start your course.

Digital Student visa status

If you were eligible to use the UK Immigration: ID Check app on your phone to apply for your Student visa you will be issued with digital visa status.

This means you can only travel to the UK during the validity dates of your visa as you will not receive a vignette visa in your passport. You must ensure that you have your decision letter email from UKVI available in your phone or printed out when you travel to the UK as evidence of your immigration status. As soon as you receive a decision on your Student visa application you need to check that you have been granted the correct length of visa (i.e. course end date plus 4 months if your course is longer than 12 months, course end date plus 2 months if your course is less than 12 months) and contact us know if there are any errors with your visa.

You also need to obtain a share code from the UKVI website and email it to studentRTS@manchester.ac.uk along with your student ID number, boarding pass and passport. Once we have obtained your share code we can verify your immigration status online and update your student record with your visa information and only then can you start your course. 

Important: You must not travel to the UK until your Student visa has been issued. If you travel to the UK before a decision is made on your Student visa application you will be entering the UK as a visitor and you are not permitted to study with Visitor visa status

Visa granted but unable to travel within 90-day validity of your entry visa vignette

If you have obtained your visa but not yet arrived in the UK, you should check that the visa sticker (‘entry clearance vignette’) in your passport will still be valid at the date you intend to travel. In the event you are unable to arrive in the UK before your entry clearance expires, it's possible that you may also be arriving too late to start your course so you should check with your department or school whether your delayed arrival can still be accommodated.

If you are still permitted to start your studies late, your school should confirm this to the Student Immigration Team so that we can report your late arrival and advise you on any steps you need to take.