CAS and Visa

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is a unique number issued to you by Queen Mary which allows you to apply for a Student visa with the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) service. When we issue a CAS to you, we are confirming that Queen Mary will sponsor your studies in the UK. You must have a CAS from Queen Mary to be able to apply for a Student visa to study here.

UCAS or Direct Applicants (Postgraduates, Foundation and Pre-Masters)

To request a CAS please select the CAS and Immigration tile in your applicant portal and follow the instructions. You will not be issued a CAS until you have firmly accepted an unconditional offer, paid any required deposit and the CAS issuing window must be open. You can apply from overseas up to 6 months before your course start date.

A CAS number can be issued 6 months before the course start if all the criteria have been met such as:

• holding an unconditional offer,
• deposit paid if the course requires one,
• the CAS issuing window has been opened
• ATAS has been received if your course requires ATAS.

QMUL will make the final decision on when we start issuing CASs for courses.  You will be sent a CAS verification email once the process is open but only if you have met all the requirements for the CAS to be issued.

The CAS can only be used once and is valid for six months from the date of being issued. The CAS will be sent electronically via email or an in-tray message in your applicant portal depending on how you requested it. It will also be available in your MySIS portal.

Latest Dates for CAS Request

If your course starts on a different date, we will calculate the latest date for issuing a CAS, but you should note that this is normally three weeks before the start of your course.

Individual exceptions may apply - if you are at all unsure, please contact your specialist Admissions team directly via email, the contact address for which will have been provided in earlier applicant email communications.

For further details on key dates and deadlines for Postgraduate Taught programmes, please visit our webpages.

Latest Dates for CAS Request

If your course starts on a different date, we will calculate the latest date for issuing a CAS, but you should note that this is normally three weeks before the start of your course.

Individual exceptions may apply - if you are at all unsure, please contact your specialist Admissions team directly via email, the contact address for which will have been provided in earlier applicant email communications.

For further details on key dates and deadlines for Postgraduate Taught programmes, please visit our webpages.

When making your Student visa application, it is essential that you meet the UKVI financial requirements. 80% of visa application refusals are caused by the applicant's failure to meet UKVI financial requirements. 

The general requirement is to show you have enough money to pay your 1st year course fees plus the required maintenance available in your bank account 28 days prior to making your visa application.

For immigration advice including information on the financial requirements of a Student visa application, you can contact a member of our Advice and Counselling team. 

University Fees

Any payments you have made towards your university fees will be stated on your CAS. For example, if you are applying for a visa to study a 1-year Master's course and:

• Your fees are £16,500
• You have paid the £2,000 deposit plus an extra £2,000 towards your fees

Then your CAS will state: "Course Fees for the Year: £16,500, Course Fees Paid so far: £4,000 and you must have £12,500 in your account for your university fees in addition to the funds for your living costs."

Maintenance

Please see our Advice and Counselling webpages for more information on financial requirements for your Student visa.

The 28-day rule

Any money you use for maintenance (university fees and living costs) must be in your account for a period of 28 consecutive days. During this 28-day period, the money in this account must not fall below the required amount for even one day. If it does fall below the requried amount, you will not meet the Home Office requirements and your visa application will be refused. 

Your bank statement must be no more than 31 days old on the date of your visa application. 

If you make a course fee payment after you have been issued the CAS it is important that you let the CAS Admissions team know, so this can be reflected on your CAS. Please email cas-admissions@qmul.ac.uk with your application reference number, confirming the amount that has been paid. Once this has been verified with our Finance team, your CAS will be updated and you will be sent confirmation.

When making payments, it is important that you include your application reference number as a reference so our Finance team can link the payment to you. We will not include the £300 deposit payment for accommodation as this is a returnable deposit. 

We strongly recommend that you refer to the Student Route Policy Guidance, or read our Advice and Counselling page on Funds for your Student visa application before making your visa application. If your visa application is refused because you have failed to meet the UKVI Financial requirements, you will be required to pay additional costs to make a new visa application and the delay may mean that you cannot start your course on time. Please also refer to the section below, titled 'Visa Application Refusals' for further information.

The entry qualification is the academic qualification Queen Mary used to assess your university application and make an offer of study. The qualifications will be listed on your CAS and should contain the correct academic title, awarding body and year it was awarded.

Please our Advice and Counselling webpages for more information on supporting documents.

If your course requires Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance, we will not issue a CAS until we have received a copy of the ATAS certificate.

ATAS applications do not cost anything and can be made from 9 months before the course start date. Your visa application will be refused if an ATAS certificate is requried and not submitted. Information about which courses require ATAS clearance can be found on the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Course Finders respectively.

If you are currently in the UK on a Student Route visa sponsored by another UK university, you will be required to provide:

• a letter from your current institution confirming that they are happy for this arrangement and that they will continue to be responsible for the student’s compliance while you are studying at QMUL

If your studies require ATAS, you will also need to have a new ATAS certificate before you can enrol for your studies at QMUL.

You will be required to have a Tuberculosis (TB) test if you are coming to the UK for more than six months and are resident in any of these listed countries. If you fail to submit a required TB test with a Student route visa application, it will be refused. 

You will not require a TB test if any of the following apply: 

• You are a diplomat accredited to the UK.
• You are a returning UK resident and have not been away for more than two years.
• You have lived for at least six months in a country where TB screening is not required by the UK, and you have been away from that country for no more than six months.  In this case, please refer to the guidance from our Advice and Counselling Service.

If your visa application is refused by UKVI you should send a full copy of the refusal letter from the UKVI to cas-admissions@qmul.ac.uk. It is essential that you read this section as it includes important information. 

If your visa is refused, the Queen Mary Advice and Counselling Service has a guide titled 'My application has been refused'. If you understand the grounds for the refusal, which are explained in the refusal notice, the guide includes detailed information about what options may be available to you now, and important information about deadlines you will need to be aware of. 

If after reading the guide you need further advice about your situation, you can contact the Advice and Counselling Service with your specific questions or concern. 

We will only issue a second CAS once you have supplied proof that you have all the relevant documents and financial evidence in place to submit a valid visa application. This will include bank statements / financial letters, qualification documents, TB certificates (if required) and any other information which is relevant to the reasons for the refusal. Please do not contact us until you have all the documents in place to request a second CAS. 

Queen Mary will not issue you a third CAS if you receive two visa application refusals. We reserve the right not to issue a second CAS if we believe the second application is likely to be refused.

If you are accepted to study a second Master in the UK and require a CAS to make a Student visa application, you have two options:

1. If you wish to make the visa application in the UK, we will require an official letter from your current institution (a scanned colour copy on headed paper) confirming you are expected to complete the course successfully and provide an indication of the qualification award date. We must have received this before issuing a CAS. Failure to pass the previous course will result in Queen Mary withdrawing sponsorship of your visa to comply with UKVI rules. 
2. You can return home to make the visa application and this will be indicated on the CAS. We will require evidence that you have returned home in the form of airline tickets / boarding passes or entry stamps before issuing a CAS.