Latest Immigration News

On 5 March 2026, the UK government announced a 'visa brake' for nationals of Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Sudan. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that student visa applications made from outside of the the UK will be refused if the main applicant is a national of one of the countries listed above.

Regretfully, this currently means that Brunel University of London will not be able to consider or process applications from students from these countries when based overseas. We are not able to sponsor student visas as any applications will automatically be refused. 

Please note that this policy only applies to visa applications made outside of the UK (known as entry clearance). It remains possible to extend or switch visa when based in the UK, in which case Brunel may be able to consider study applications. 

The UK government has not yet confirmed how long this 'visa brake' will last. Brunel will continue to monitor the situation and advise applicants accordingly. 

The UK government have recently announced a future change to the Graduate Visa, that will apply to any application made from 1 January 2027. From this point, for students who have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate taught degree, the visa will have a shorter duration of 18 months (down from the current 2 years). Graduates of research degrees i.e. PhD will continue to qualify for a 3-year visa.

This will effectively mean that students need to successfully complete their degree courses by 31 December 2026 to be eligible for the Graduate Visa that will be 2 years in duration. 

There have been recent changes in July 2025 to how students in the USA can apply for their student visa. Please visit the website for further details: Key update for UK visa customers across the USA | vfsglobal.

Rather than applying through an Application Support Centre via the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as in the past, students will now be required use one of a number of new Visa Application Centres that are opening across the USA. 

Although the changes have been marketed as being an improvement to the previous system, there are some initial concerns that the number of new visa centres are insufficient and too broadly spread across the country. It may be necessary for students to travel considerable distances to their nearest centre. 

Please Contact Us if you need any further assistance regarding this. As is standard advice for visa applications, where possible, please try to apply for your student visa as far in advance of the course start date as you can to limit any potential disruption these changes may have. 

The UK Home Office are phasing out the issuing of physical visa documentation such as Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) and passport vignettes. If you need a visa to stay and study in the UK, this will now be in a digital format. 

Further details about eVisas can be found at: Online immigration status (eVisa) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Information about how to prove your visa status where required is available at: View and prove your immigration status: get a share code - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 

The UK has recently introduced a new requirement for people wishing to visit the UK for up to six months - this is called Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). 

An ETA is not a visa/immigration status, but permission to travel to the UK. You may need one if you are coming to the UK as a visitor and do not need a visa to do so, for example, if you are studying a short course of less than six months. Note that you do not need to apply for an ETA if you have already obtained a visa to come to the UK i.e. if you are applying for a Student visa to study in the UK for more than six months.  

Please visit our website for more information on ETAs.