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GUIDE TO COMPLETING THE TIER 4 (GENERAL) APPLICATION FORM OVERSEASJUNE 2020

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This guide has been prepared to assist you complete the Tier 4 (General) application and to provide extra detail to questions that you may finding confusing.

The International Advising Team will be very happy to answer any questions and check your application for you, and you should request this before you are asked to complete the declaration, as changes cannot be made after this point.

Do not be concerned if you are asked more or less questions than set out in this guide. The questions asked will vary depending on your circumstances, for e.g. nationality, relationship status, whether you have previously studied in the UK.

If for any reason, you have requested your CAS is updated (for e.g. tuition fee payment, change of passport), you must wait for confirmation this has been done before you submit your application.

THE PROCESS IS DIVIDED INTO 6 STAGES:

i Start – set up your account

ii) Application – complete the application form

iii) Documents – confirm which documents will be required

iv) Declaration – confirm that the application is correct

v) Pay –immigration health surcharge & visa application fee, book your visa appointment

vi) Download and print - bring all the requested documents to your visa appointment

BEFORE STARTING THE APPLICATIONMake sure you have the following documents and information available to complete the online application:

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

Passport(s)

National Identity Card (if applicable)

Details of immediate family who live in the UK (if applicable)

Accommodation details in the UK

Travel history - details of countries you have previously visited, including the UK

UCAS number (if applicable)

Official Financial Sponsor details (if applicable)

Bank card - to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and application fee

BRP Collection Code - 2HE752 – this code must be entered on your visa application and ensures that your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is delivered directly to the University for you to collect.

GUIDE TO COMPLETING THE TIER 4 (GENERAL) APPLICATION FORM OVERSEAS JUNE 2020

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START APPLICATION

GO TO

https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/apply-visa-type/tier4

- Confirm visa type - Tier 4 (General) Student Visa

- Select country to provide your biometrics (fingerprints and facial photograph)

- Confirm where you can attend a visa appointment

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REGISTER YOUR EMAIL

Keep a note of your password so that you can log in and out of your application at any point.

There is a link below the ‘Save and continue’ button which allows you to ‘Show and edit answers’ at anytime while completing the application. If you ‘return to this application later’ you will be emailed a unique link which will enable you to go back to your latest saved application.

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NAME

Enter the names exactly as shown in your passport and on your CAS statement. If your name(s) are incorrectly noted on the CAS statement, you must notify us immediately.

Your ‘Given names’ refers to your first name and any middle names you may have. Your ‘Family name’ refers to your surname.

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CAS NUMBER

Ensure that you copy the 14 digit CAS number directly from the CAS statement that has been emailed to you.

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HOME ADDRESS

Your home address is the address in the country where you are currently living.

You will be asked ‘how long have you lived at this address?’. You only need to give an approximate length of time in either days, weeks, months or years.

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STATUS

Choose your gender and relationship status.

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NATIONALITY, DATE OF BIRTH AND COUNTRY

Enter your nationality, date of birth, country and place of birth exactly as shown in your passport and on your CAS statement.

If you are applying outside your country of nationality, you will be asked later in the application to confirm what permission you have to apply in that country, for e.g. you have a temporary visa.

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PASSPORT

These details should match exactly what is noted in your passport and on your CAS statement. If you have another passport (e.g. expired or issued by another country), you will be asked to provide these details as well.

If you have changed your passport since your CAS was issued, you must contact us to request these details are updated. You should not submit your application until you receive confirmation that this has been done.

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NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD

Only certain countries issue National Identity Cards. If you have a card, then provide the details but do not submit the ID card with your application unless requested.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

We do not recommend you book your travel to the UK until your visa is approved. You should therefore enter your intended date of arrival in the UK. Please note, the earliest your can arrive in the UK (if you are studying a course over 9 months long) is either one month before the course start date or seven days before your intended date of travel, whichever is later.

Either enter the total length of your course (in years and months) or write ‘length of my course’.

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SPOKEN LANGUAGE PREFERENCE

We recommend you choose English as this will be the language in which any interview with UKVI officials will be conducted.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

You will not be asked this question if you are from a ‘majority English speaking country’.

St George’s is a higher education institution.

You will need to refer to your CAS statement (Evidence Provided - English language qualification) to see how we have assessed your English language ability. In the majority of cases we will have made an assessment based on the evidence you have provided i.e. Higher Education Institution (HEI) sponsor has made assessment. In this case, you will need to answer ‘yes’ to the 2nd question.

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PEOPLE FINANCIALLY DEPENDENT ON YOU

If you have a spouse and/or children who you financially support, you must provide their details even if they are not coming with you to the UK. You must also declare if you support any olther relative(s).

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YOUR PARENT(S)

You must give details (name, date of birth and nationality) about 2 of your parents – mother, father, stepmother or stepfather. If you can only provide the details for one parent, you must declare this.

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FAMILY IN THE UK

This only includes immediate family e.g. spouse, children, parents, grandparents.

If you answer yes, you will be asked to provide:

• their name

• Nationality

• relationship to you

• what permission they have to be in the UK.

If you cannot contact your relative, you will be asked to state the reason why.

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TRAVELLING AS PART OF AN ORGANISED GROUP

An organised group is referring to a sports, work or study group. It does not mean a family group; if you are travelling with family, answer No to this question but Yes to the next question.

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TRAVELLING WITH OTHERS (E.G. FAMILY)

This can include a parent, friend, work colleague etc.

You will be asked to provide:

• their name

• nationality

• relationship to you

You only need to list one name, even if you are travelling with more than one person.

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ACCOMMODATION

If you are planning on moving into university accommodation or have not yet organized alternative accommodation, we advise you to enter the address of the university’s halls of residence. The address is:

Horton Halls St George’s Grove Tooting London SW17 0BD

You will only receive your room number once the booking has been confirmed which may be after you submit your application.

You only need to provide approximate dates of when you expect to arrive and leave this accommodation.

As a Tier 4 student, you will be expected to update both the University and UKVI whenever you change address in the UK. We will advise you on how to do this when you are in the UK and enrolled.

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UK TRAVEL HISTORY

If you have been to the UK in the last 10 years, you will be asked to provide the following details for the 2 most recent trips:

• the reason for your visit

• date (month/year)

• length of your visit (days/weeks/months/years)

Don’t worry if you can’t remember exact dates, although you should try and be as accurate as possible.

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MEDICAL TREATMENT IN THE UK

Medical treatment includes visiting a doctor and/or being treated at a hospital. If you answer Yes, you will be asked:

• the name and address of the hospital, doctor or clinic

• the date of medical treatment

• whether you had to pay for this treatment

• did you pay the full amount.

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UK LEAVE TO REMAIN

This question is asking whether you have made an application whilst in the UK for permission to stay longer (‘leave to remain’) in the UK; it does not refer to applications made outside of the UK to enter the UK (‘leave to enter’).

If you answer Yes, you will need to state the date (month/year) of the application and the visa decision (approved /refused).

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NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER

A National Insurance (NI) number is a personal account number which is unique to an individual and makes sure that he/she pays the correct National Insurance contributions and tax when they work in the UK.

You can only apply for a NI number from within the UK. If you haven’t worked in the UK, it is unlikely that you have this.

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TRAVEL HISTORY (OTHER)

If you have been any of the countries listed in the past 10 years, you will be asked to provide the following information for the 2 most recent trips:

• the reason for your visit

• date (month/year)

• length of your visit (days/weeks/months/years)

European Economic Area (EEA): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK

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TRAVEL HISTORY (OTHER)

If you have visited any other country (other than those listed) in the past 10 years, you will be asked to provide the following information for ALL of these trips:

• the country you visited

• the reason for your visit

• date (month/year)

• length of your visit (days/weeks/months/years)

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PROBLEMS WITH IMMIGRATION

It is extremely important that you declare details of any problems with immigration to the UK. This includes if a previous application for a visa was refused. You will be asked to provide details of what happened.

Declaring a previous problem may not result in an automatic refusal but failure to provide this information will be viewed as deception or making false representations which could result in a 10 year re-entry ban to the UK.

You will also be asked to declare any refusals or problems you may have had with immigration to countries other than the UK. Again, it is important that you give as much information as possible if there has been an immigration problem in the past.

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CONVICTIONS

This includes the convictions and other penalties (e.g. caution, driving offences) in the UK and any other country. You must declare any unspent convictions.

Failure to declare information will be viewed as deception or making false representations and could result in a 10-year re-entry ban to the UK. Contact us before submitting your application if you are unsure whether to declare something.

You will also be asked to declare if you have been involved in war crimes, terrorist organisations or expressed terrorist views.

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YOUR PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS

Please provide any relevant details as accurately as possible. This includes work anywhere in the world.

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SPONSOR DETAILS - ST GEORGE’S

The sponsor licence number and address for St George’s, can be found on your CAS statement. Ensure you enter the details exactly as shown.

St George’s is a Higher Education Institution (HEI)

The address on your CAS is where the majority of your study will take place.

If you applied through UCAS enter your personal identification number in the relevant field.

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ATAS

Only certain postgraduate courses (e.g. PhD) require an ATAS. If you needed to apply for an ATAS certificate, you would have been told to do this prior to receiving your CAS.

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FUTURE OFFICIAL FINANCIAL SPONSOR

Examples of an official financial sponsor include: the UK government or your home government, or an international company or organisation. There is no definition of an ‘international company’ but UKVI will look to see whether the company has a trading presence in more than country.

It does not include a parent or other family member(s).

If you will be receiving official financial sponsorship, you will need to ensure that the letter confirming sponsorship meets Tier 4 requirements. Please contact us for further information.

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COURSE INFORMATION

The sponsor institution is St George’s, University of London.

Write the course name and course start and end dates exactly as shown on your CAS statement.

The course level noted on the CAS statement should be entered as the ‘qualification you will get’.

Most undergraduate degrees (e.g. Biomedical Science, Physiotherapy) are RQF Level 6 except for Medicine (MBBS) which is at RQF Level 7.

Most postgraduate degrees are at RQF Level 7, except for MPhil/PhD which is at RQF Level 8.

A sabbatical officer is a student who has been elected to work for the Students’ Union.

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ACCOMODATION PAYMENTS

TThis is referring to money you may have already paid to St George’s to stay at Horton Halls. It does not include money paid to a private landlord or any other accommodation. There is a maximum amount of £1265 that you can deduct from the amount required for maintenance.

You must ensure that the money you state you have paid is the same amount as that noted on your CAS statement. Please contact us if this needs to be amended and do not submit your application until you have confirmation this has been updated.

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COURSE FEES

The course/tuition fee is noted on your CAS statement. You must ensure that any payment you have made towards tuition is the same amount as that noted on your CAS statement. Please contact us if this needs to be amended and do not submit your application until you have confirmation this has been updated.

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STUDENT LOAN

The student loan must be in your name or your parent(s) name. An example of a student loan is the US Federal Aid Loan.

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MAINTENANCE FUNDS

You can only use your own financial documents, or those belonging to your parents or legal guardian.

If it is in your parents or legal guardian account then you will need to confirm this and that you have a permission letter and original birth certificate to submit with the application. If you are relying on money from a guardian, you must provide evidence that they have been legally appointed. An affidavit is not sufficient.

You can not use a parent’s business account nor can you rely on money in another family members account. Please see our Tier 4 Visa Guide 2019-20 for more information.

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EXTRA INFORMATION

If you want to add more information about your application, for e.g. about previous travel or visa applications, you should write it here.

If there is no further information you want to add, click the ‘Save and continue’ button.

THIS IS THE END OF THE QUESTIONS ON THE APPLICATION FORM. MAKE SURE YOU SEND YOUR APPLICATION TO BE CHECKED TO THE INTERNATIONAL ADVISING TEAM.

THE NEXT FEW QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS.

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LOW RISK NATIONALS

You will only be asked this question if you are a national of a differentiation arrangement country and therefore considered ‘low risk’. See earlier in this guide for more information.

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FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS

Money can only be held in yours or your parent’s name. Scholarships and sponsor letters are considered to be in your name.

You must list the name of your bank and confirm what type of document you will be submitting.

You can print off the checklist and appointment details when you have finished your application.

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DOCUMENT CHECKLIST

This is an example of the checklist of documents you will be required to submit. You can print off the checklist and appointment details when you have finished your application.

Make sure that you check whether you are required to submit a tuberculosis (TB) test with your application. If required, you must ensure this is submitted otherwise your application will be refused.

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DECLARATION

You cannot make any changes to the application once you accept the declaration.

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IHS

You will be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) before the visa application fee. This is calculated at £300 per year.

Select No to the question, ‘Are you applying to stay in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey?’

Enter the course dates as stated on your CAS. You will be charged for the whole period of leave you are granted and not just the time spent studying.

Once you have confirmed all the details you will need to pay the required amount.

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FINALISING YOUR APPLICATION

Once you have completed all of the sections of the application you will need to book an appointment at the Visa Application Centre or Embassy so you can enrol your biometrics (fingerprints and photo)

and submit your documentation.

In order to collect your BRP from St George’s you need to select ‘Collect from an alternative location’ when you reach the ‘BRP collection’ part of the application and then enter the following

ACL code: 2HE752

You will be given more details on the next steps to take and what documents to print after payment is complete.

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