The University offers an interest-free loan scheme to new and existing employees and their dependants to help with Home Office visa and application costs and related legal advice regarding securing a legal right to live and work in the UK.

As a new or existing employee, you may be eligible to apply for reimbursement of your Skilled Worker/Global Talent visa application fee, Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fee. Please check the Visa Reimbursement Scheme webpage for more information.

What the loan covers

The loan may cover the costs associated with:

a Skilled Worker Visa application or renewal
a Global Talent Visa application or renewal
a Family/Spousal Visa application or renewal
a Graduate Visa application
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fees
an application for an approved English Language Test or UK National Information Centre for global qualifications and skills (UK ENIC) (formerly known as UK NARIC) fees
UK legal fees for immigration advice
an application for Settlement/Indefinite Leave to Remain
an application for British Citizenship

The loan amount

You can borrow a maximum value of less than £10,000.

The interest-free loan can be used to cover all or part of the fees that you have incurred, or are due to incur.

You may be eligible for one other interest-free loan (totalling a combined maximum value of less than £10,000) at the University for the purpose of commuting to work. Please contact Reward-HR@bath.ac.uk for any further information.

You should only request an interest-free loan up to the value that you need to cover the costs associated with Home Office application fees and legal advice, and for the purpose with which it is intended.

For audit purposes, you will need to attach copies of all relevant invoices and receipts to your loan application form. If these invoices and receipts are not available at the time you make your application, they will need to be forwarded to the Payroll Team directly with a copy of your loan application form as soon as possible.

Getting and repaying the loan

Once approved, the loan will be paid directly into your bank account by direct transfer, usually within 10 working days.

The loan will be repayable by deduction from your monthly salary by equal instalments up to a maximum of 36 months or the length of the employment contract term, whichever is the shorter.

Repayments will begin in the next payroll run following the payment of the interest-free loan lump sum.

Eligibility

To be eligible for an interest-free loan under this scheme you will need to be:

an employee on an open-ended or fixed-term contract of employment of 12 months or more. If you have less than 12 months remaining on your contract at the point of application, you will not be eligible.
able to apply for the interest-free loan once you have started employment at the University.

There are no restrictions in place preventing one or more employees from the same household claiming an interest-free loan if they are eligible to do so.

For the purposes of this scheme, 'dependants' refers to the following: husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner and your children aged 18 or under at time of application.

The application process

The following guidelines should be followed when making an application for an interest-free loan:

applications must be made using the Interest-Free Loan Scheme Application Form, attaching scanned copies of receipts as evidence of payment where possible
as part of your application, you will need to provide a full breakdown of actual or anticipated costs and who they relate to
applications must be submitted to the Staff Immigration Team at hr-visas@bath.ac.uk in the first instance
once employee status has been authorised, the Staff Immigration Team will send your application form to the Payroll Team for consideration
the Payroll Team will notify you by email as to the outcome of your application, prior to the loan being transferred into your bank account
an application will be rejected if it is received after you have given notice of resignation or you do not meet the eligibility criteria as set out in this scheme
it will be a condition for receiving assistance that you accept all the terms of this scheme

If you leave the University

If you leave the employment of the University for whatever reason before the loan is repaid, the outstanding balance will be deducted from your final monthly salary. And if this is insufficient, by direct payment from you before the last date of your employment at the University.