Immigration and visas
The International Office provides advice on what visa you need and how to get one. Students should keep their Letter of Acceptance with them when travelling to Edinburgh.
As soon as you have received an offer to study with us, you will be keen to find out what you need to do to secure the visa that will allow you to enter the UK as a student.
The University of Edinburgh’s International Office has prepared comprehensive guidance on which kind of visa you will need, and how to go about securing it. You can find this information on their website:
We will send you, as part of your Joining Pack, a Letter of Acceptance ("Joining Letter"). This pack will be sent out in late July for semester one students and full-year students or in late November for semester two students.
If you decide to travel to Edinburgh under the Student Visitor category, you will need to show this Letter of Acceptance when you enter the UK.
If you are required to (or wish to) apply for a Tier 4 (General) Student Visa, the Visiting Student Section will provide you with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) code. You will need to submit this CAS code to the UK Borders Agency as part of your application. We will email all non-EU/EEA students who have been made an unconditional offer requesting some essential additional information we need before we can issue them with a CAS.
Please note that we will not begin issuing CAS codes until three months prior to your studies starting (i.e. mid-June for semester one and full-year students and early-October for semester two students). Your visa application may be rejected if you attempt to apply more than three months before the start date of your studies.
You can find detailed guidance on the Student Visitor and Tier 4 (General) Student visas, including advice on the application processes, at the International Office immigration advice site:
Specific queries on immigration should be addressed to our specialist International Student Advisers:
This article was published on Nov 4, 2010