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Passport checks and visa collection for new international students

If you have overseas fee status or need immigration permission to study in the UK, you may need to attend a passport check session before starting your course.

If you have been assessed as Overseas for fee purposes, you must show us documents that prove you can study in the UK before you can complete registration. When you arrive in the UK, you must therefore attend a passport check session.

Please do not travel to the UK until after your Student visa has been granted. Please do not travel to the UK until after the start date of your Student visa.

If you come to the UK before your Student visa has been granted, or you travel before the start date of your Student visa you will not be allowed to complete registration and start your course. You will need to leave the UK and come back once your Student visa has been approved.

If you have been assessed as having Home fee status, you should follow a separate process.

Upload copies of your documents to Application Tracker

As soon as you have received a decision on your Student visa application, please upload scans of the following documents to Application Tracker.

If you gave your fingerprints and a photograph (biometric information) at a visa application centre, you will most likely be issued with a BRP or Biometric Residence Permit. You must upload:

  • your valid passport
  • the 90-day travel vignette in your passport
  • the letter confirming you have been granted a Student visa

If you hold a passport from an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland and you applied using the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your identity document on your phone, you will most likely be issued with an eVisa (digital immigration status currently sent via email from Home Office Atlas). You must upload:

A comprehensive gov.uk guide explains how you can view and prove your immigration status, update your details, what you should expect when crossing the UK border and how to get help accessing your immigration status.

Once you have uploaded your documents, we will contact you about the next steps.

If your fee status is Overseas but you are travelling on something other than a Student visa, we will contact you to tell you which documents to upload.

BRP collection

  • If you need to collect a biometric residence permit (BRP) and have chosen to collect it from the University, you will be able to collect your BRP during your passport check session.

  • If you did not choose to collect your BRP from the University (and did not specify an alternate location), your BRP delivery will default to the local Post Office in Bath, which is located on the first floor of WHSmith. You will need to attend the Post Office (with your passport) to collect it and bring it with you to your passport check session.

What to bring with you

A passport check session is a 10-minute session with the Student Immigration Service.

Please bring the following with you:

  • original passport
  • BRP (if you have collected this from the Post Office)
  • evidence of your date of entry into the UK, either as the dated stamp on your entry vignette (if your passport was checked at border control) or by providing evidence of your flight booking (if you used the eGates)

What to do bring if you have applied for your visa from inside the UK and are still waiting for a decision

If UKVI is still processing your visa application, you must provide us with the evidence of this application.

This could be:

  • a letter from UKVI confirming they have received your application
  • a letter from UKVI asking you to make an appointment to give your biometric data
  • the Document Checklist from the online visa application

You may not be allowed to start your course until you have a visa for the University of Bath.

If you have a visa for another institution, you must apply to UKVI for a visa for the University of Bath before you can register.

Times and locations

You do not need to book an appointment and can just turn up during these times.

Please note, our office space is limited therefore we kindly ask that you do not bring friends and family with you when attending a passport check and visa collection. If there are queues, we may also ask you to return at a later time when it is quieter.

Passport checks take place in Wessex House 8.16 between 10:00 and 16:00 from Monday to Friday.

Enquiries

If you have any questions, please contact us.