Your Biometric Residence Permit

Overseas applications

If you apply for a Student visa from outside of the UK and are not eligible to use the UKVI Immigration ID Check app to enrol your biometrics you should receive a temporary entry visa (vignette) in your passport to enable you to travel to the UK once your application has been approved. 

You should check that the details on this visa are correct. You will need to pay attention to the following:

• The end and start dates of your visa
• Your working rights
• The University of Manchester licence number: Q3DK76WN4
• Your name and details

If you notice any errors on your entry visa then you should have these amended before entering the UK by contacting the Visa Application Centre that you applied through.

Collecting a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)

If you applied for a Student visa to cover a course longer than 6 months in length the entry visa vignette you receive in your passport should be valid for 90 days from the expected travel date you provided in your application. Once you enter the UK you will be required to collect your full visa, called a Biometric Residence Permit (identity card). You can find more information about this on the UKVI website.

If you are issued with a BRP, it should be sent to a local Post Office. The exact address for the Post Office you will need to collect your BRP from will be detailed on the decision notice you are sent confirming your successful application.

You should aim to collect your BRP as soon as you can after arriving and you must provide evidence of both sides of your permit to visa@manchester.ac.uk before you start your studies.

Check that your Biometric Residence Permit is Correct

Mistakes are sometimes made when BRPs are printed, so it's very important you check your BRP. If there is an error with your BRP you must report it to UKVI within 10 days through their website.

Possible errors may be:

• Incorrect expiry date. Your Student visa should be valid for the length of your course and an additional 'wrap-up period' which varies depending on the length of your course:
  • Courses lasting 12 months or more should receive an additional 4 months of wrap-up
  • Courses longer than 6 months but less than 12 should receive 2 months of wrap-up
  • Courses shorter than 6 months will only receive 7 days of wrap-up leave apart from pre-sessional English courses which should receive 1 month of wrap-up.

• The University of Manchester's sponsor license number is missing or incorrect. It should be Q3DK76WN4

• The number of working hours are incorrect - for full details on the working rules go to our information on working during your studies

• Your personal details (for example incorrect spellings).

Contact us as soon as you notice an error on your visa because there is a limited period of time in which you can obtain a correction.

Note - BRP expiry dates are limited to 31st December 2024 as UKVI intend to move to digital statuses and BRPs will no longer be required after this date. You do not need to report an error if your visa should be valid beyond December 2024. UKVI should provide updated guidance on the transition away from BRPs in early 2024.