Student Visa

This guidance is subject to change as new guidance is usually released in the spring before new academic year applications come in. We will continue updating the guidance as any changes are announced.

As you will be studying in the UK for more than 6 months, you will require a Student Visa. This visa type replaced the Tier 4 visa route in 2020, so you may have heard outdated references to the Tier 4 visa. This applies to EU citizens as well as any citizen of countries outside the UK and Ireland. You may apply within 6 months of the start date of your program, which means any time after the 13th April 2024. We will schedule a time during the week of April 29-May 3 to meet, during which time you will complete your visa application with members of the study away and WEPO teams.

WEPO staff are able to pay for your visa fees and immigration health surcharge fees on your behalf during your visa advising meeting. In this case, the visa and IHS fees (totalling £1246 or $1523.24) will be charged to your Williams term bill. If you are on financial aid, you will receive a credit against your account to cover this cost, as well as additional funds for your travel expenses to/from Oxford. If you are not on financial aid and prefer to pay for this directly on your own credit card, please be sure to call your credit card company shortly before making this payment to avoid the charge being blocked. We offer to do this for you with our UK WEPO card, as it limits the chances of the charge being blocked and should make your application process go more smoothly.

Note that visa processing has been delayed in the last couple of cycles due to Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine. Things are returning to normal, but there is still the possibility of unexpected delays. Because of this, we strongly encourage you to prioritize applying as soon as possible to ensure you receive your visa in plenty of time to travel. This is why we have planned a time for you to apply with us so that we can answer questions as you go. You'll usually get a decision within 3 weeks of submitting your completed application, but it could take longer.

If you have any questions about the visa process, please contact Katie Ford, WEPO Director of Administration, at kf7@williams.edu. Katie will be hosting a drop-in for you to stop by on Google Meets to ask pre-departure or visa questions. Sign up for available dates and times here.

• Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)- a CAS is an electronic document that the University of Oxford will issue to you upon acceptance to the program. You must fill in the electronic registration form (mentioned in previous emails) in order to have your CAS issued. You will enter your CAS reference number on your Student visa application form.

  • The process of getting your CAS number is as follows:

    • You must complete the Oxford University electronic registration form provided with your offer in order to accept your offer to the WEPO programme. As a reminder, if your passport renewal is pending, wait until you have your new passport as the passport number you submit must match the passport you're using to apply for your visa.

    • Once they have your form, Oxford University creates your official student record

    • Exeter will create a CAS draft email & send to you to confirm your personal details in early-April

    • You must reply to that email to confirm your details. Your CAS number will not be generated until you confirm the details in this email are correct.

    • Once your details are confirmed, Exeter will request your CAS number and you should receive it by email

• Finances- to qualify for a Student Visa, you must meet the following financial requirements:

  • Course fees- you may be asked to show that you have enough money to pay the course fees for your course, as noted on your CAS statement. If you are receiving financial aid at Williams, your financial aid officer will be able to provide you with documentation to prove that this requirement is met by your financial aid package. If you're an American citizen, you do not need to show this evidence with your application, but may be contacted by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) after you've submitted your application. If you're a citizen of another country and your country does not appear on the list below, you may need to provide this evidence with your application. If this applies to you, you'll be contacted by WEPO staff with additional information.

  • Living costs- you may be asked to show that you have enough money to support yourself in the UK (currently £9,207). If you're an American citizen, you do not need to show this evidence with your application, but may be contacted by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) after you've submitted your application. If you're a citizen of another country and your country does not appear on the list below, you may need to provide this evidence with your application. If this applies to you, you'll be contacted by WEPO staff with additional information. You can read more about the financial requirements and how to show proof of funds here.

Nationalities that usually do not need to show financial evidence:

You don’t need to show you meet the financial requirements if you hold a British National (Overseas) passport or a passport issued by Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR or Taiwan. If you hold a passport issue by Taiwan it must include the number of your Taiwanese identification card.

You typically don’t need to show you meet the financial requirements if you’re a national of these countries (unless requested extraordinarily after you have submitted your application):

• • Australia

  • Austria

  • Bahrain

  • Barbados

  • Belgium

  • Botswana

  • Brazil

  • Brunei

  • Bulgaria

  • Cambodia

  • Canada

  • Chile

  • China

  • Croatia

  • Republic of Cyprus

  • Czech Republic

  • Denmark

  • The Dominican Republic

  • Estonia

  • Finland

  • France

  • Germany

  • Greece

  • Hungary

  • Iceland

  • Indonesia

  • Ireland

  • Italy

  • Japan

  • Kazakhstan

  • Kuwait

  • Latvia

  • Liechtenstein

  • Lithuania

  • Luxembourg

  • Malaysia

  • Malta

  • Mauritius

  • Mexico

  • Netherlands

  • New Zealand

  • Norway

  • Oman

  • Peru

  • Poland

  • Portugal

  • Qatar

  • Romania

  • Serbia

  • Singapore

  • Slovakia

  • Slovenia

  • South Korea

  • Spain

  • Sweden

  • Switzerland

  • Thailand

  • Tunisia

  • United Arab Emirates

  • United States of America

☐ Passport- your passport must contain at least one full page that is blank on both sides. Your passport should be valid for the full length of your stay.

☐ CAS- you will receive a CAS statement with your CAS number from Exeter College via email.

☐ Course fee- US citizens will not need to demonstrate this in their application, but could be asked for evidence by the UKVI after the application is submitted. If you're not a US citizen, you might need to submit this evidence with your application. WEPO staff will be in touch directly if this applies to you.

☐ Money to support yourself ('financial requirement')- US citizens will not need to demonstrate this in their application, but could be asked for evidence by the UKVI after the application is submitted. If you're not a US citizen, you might need to submit this evidence with your application. WEPO staff will be in touch directly if this applies to you.

1. Begin your application form on the UK government website here. 

• There is guidance on the application on pages 4-16 of this guide from Oxford University. You may follow this guidance question-by-question if you need help with any of the application questions.

1. • • If you are not a US citizen and see a question in the application form about your English Language Qualification, you can answer 'yes' to question 'C' (Are you coming to the UK to study at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance?) Check your CAS for confirmation that Oxford has assessed your English Language ability. You should see this wording: “Reason SELT is not required: Higher Education Institution (HEI) sponsor has made assessment”. If so, answer ‘yes’ to the second question here. You do not need to provide any test certificates or other evidence on which this assessment was based with your visa application. 

     • When asked about where you'll be staying in the UK, you should list the following address (no matter which room/house you're in at EWH):

       • 145 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7AN

     • When asked if you applied for your course through UCAS, you will answer 'no' even though you're an undergraduate student. This would only be true if you were applying as a degree-seeking undergraduate student.

2. Once you complete the application form, you will complete the declaration. Once you do this, you will not be able to go back to change your answers. 

3. After you've finished the declaration, you'll be asked to pay the immigration health surcharge. As you're studying in the UK for more than 6 months, you'll have to pay £776.

4. There is a £490 visa application fee that you'll be asked to pay to finalize your application. You will also be asked to select a location to pick up your BRP (biometric residence permit) in Oxford. You should select the 'Oxford St Aldates Post Office' to pick up your BRP- you will be given time to do this as a part of the WEPO orientation.

5. You'll now need to make an appointment to give your biometric data. Note that visa processing times start from your biometric appointment, not the date you submit the application, so we encourage you to get an appointment as soon as possible.

There are generally two options for selecting a biometric appointment: an 'Application Support Center', which is run by the US Department of Homeland Security, or a Premium Application Centre run by a company called VFS. We recommend booking an appointment at an ASC for several reasons: there are more locations available, they're free to attend, and you do not have to purchase premium service to use them. The closest ASC to Williamstown is in Albany, NY.

You must take your current passport (the one you're applying with that matches your CAS letter) and a printed copy of your appointment confirmation letter with you to your appointment. We also recommend that you bring a printed copy of your CAS letter with you in case they need it for reference.

If you need assistance arranging or paying for travel to/from your biometrics appointment whilst at Williams, please reach out to the Dean's Office.

6. Once you've attended your appointment and your appointment confirmation letter is stamped at the ASC, you have 5 days to mail your stamped confirmation letter, application form, current passport, and UPS return shipping label to:

VFS Services USA Inc.

UKVI Scanning Hub

128 East 32nd Street, 4th Floor, 

New York, NY 10016 

You should be sure to send your application packet tracked, as your original passport will need to be sent. Your return shipping label should also be tracked, with the quickest possible shipping time available. All applications must include your current passport with at least one blank visa page on both sides. If your application is mailed without a passport, the application will be refused.

To have your passport or any other documents returned, you must provide a fully addressed UPS prepaid electronic shipping label. You must ensure your return shipping label is inside the package, and should keep a copy of the shipping label for your records.

7. Once your application is processed and your visa approved, you'll receive your passport back with a vignette sticker that is valid for you to enter the UK. This is only a temporary visa that allows you to come to Oxford to pick up your BRP (your visa for the duration of your program), so don't panic that it doesn't cover the full year!