Registration

You will need to demonstrate that you have either obtained a Student visa, or hold another type of UK visa/immigration status (see below). Please visit our website for further details if you need to make a Student visa application. 

If you entered the UK before 1 January 2021, you may have applied for the EU Settlement Scheme. We will need to check this status at registration using an online service with the UK Home Office. In order to do this, we will need you to provide a 'Share Code' to check your immigration status online. You will be asked for this as part of the registration process. Please visit the website for further details of how to do this. Please also note that the deadline to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021.

Note that nationals of the Republic of Ireland will not need to apply for any form of immigration permission to enter or study in the UK. 

At the moment international students holding Student visas are allowed to study online from their home country. UKVI have recently confirmed that this concession will be extended until 30 June 2022 for students unable to travel to the UK. 

Brunel University changed back to largely on-campus teaching from September 2021 and we are encouraging all students, where possible, to study on-campus. Please visit our website for further details about this. Therefore, we recommend all Students apply for and obtain their Student Visa before the start of the course and arrive in the UK in time for the start of teaching. But online/remote study will be supported if this is not possible until 30 June 2022. 

If you are not able to supply your visa documents at registration, you will be asked to confirm that you are currently overseas, and will be registered accordingly. If this is the case, your immigration documents will be requested at a later date so please keep them safe. 

This will apply to any courses that start before 30 June 2022. Please note that if your course starts from 1 July 2022 (including for the September 2022 intake) you will need to have obtained your visa and entered the UK in order to register. 

Important: Please note that the UK Home Office have confirmed that the concession that allows international students being sponsored for a Tier 4/Student visa to study online will be extended to 30 June 2022. You are expected to attend face-to-face teaching if you are in the UK.

In order to register at Brunel University London with a Student visa, you must present the following documents:

1. A valid Student visa which covers the whole duration of the course

AND which shows Brunel University London's Sponsor Licence Number (SLN) - 0BT931EY6;

AND which was issued for the course you are registering on using the appropriate Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).

The visa may be a paper vignette in your passport called Permission to Enter and/or a plastic card called a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). You will receive a BRP if you make your Student visa application inside the UK or if your visa is issued to cover a course that is more than six months long (please see section below). 

2. An ORIGINAL letter or email from UKVI which proves they have received your permission to stay application for a Student visa to study at Brunel University.

3. An ORIGINAL letter or email from UKVI which invites you to attend a biometrics appointment, as part of your application for a Student visa to study at Brunel University.

4. An ORIGINAL letter or email from UKVI which confirms your permission to stay as a Student has been successful to study at Brunel University. The letter will also state that your BRP (which is the new visa) will be sent to you in the coming days.

5. If you have recently submitted an online Student visa application but have not yet had confirmation from UKVI that your supporting documents have been received, you must supply a copy of your application form, which can be downloaded once the application is submitted.

6. If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss national, your Student immigration status will be in a digital format (you will not receive a BRP). Instead, you will need to provide a ‘Share Code’ using the Home Office’s online service so that we can verify your immigration status. Further details on how to do this will be provided in your registration instructions.

Please be aware that if you present any of the documents described in options 2 – 5 above, you will be registering at your own risk. Should the visa application subsequently be refused, you may have to be de-registered and may lose fees already paid to the University. We will ask you to sign a disclaimer which confirms you accept this risk. Once you receive your new visa, or other UKVI decision, you must show it to the University as soon as possible.

If you already have a Tier 4 (General) or Student visa that was issued to study at another institution, or which does not cover the whole duration on your course at Brunel University, you will need to apply for a new Student visa using a CAS we have issued. Please also note that you will need to apply for a new Student visa if you move between courses at Brunel University London (for example, if you complete an undergraduate degree and then want to study a postgraduate degree). You will not be allowed to register with a Tier 4 (General) or Student visa that was issued either to study at another institution or for a previous course at Brunel University. 

If you made your Student visa application outside of the UK (permission to enter), please keep any documentary evidence that shows the date on which you entered the UK. This may include boarding passes and/or flight tickets. You may be asked to provide this, particularly if you entered via an Electronic Passport Gate (e-gate). We will need to check this in order to register you. Please ensure that you only enter the UK within the validity period of your Student visa and we advise you not to travel to the UK before it becomes valid.

 If you applied for your Student visa outside of the UK and are joining a course that is longer than six months, you must collect your BRP before you can register with us (except if you register online before you enter the UK - see section above). 

If you are required to collect a BRP after arriving in the UK, there will be two possible places where you can collect it. This will depend on the option you select when you complete your visa application form. The form will ask you a question about where you would like to collect your BRP.

1. Collect your BRP at a Post Office: The visa application form will ask you to input the UK postcode of the address you will be living at when you come to the UK. If your Student visa application is successful, you will then be given instructions of which Post Office you need to go to in order to collect your BRP. This will be a Post Office close to where you will be living. Please note that it will be your responsibility to ensure that you collect your BRP within 10 days of arriving in the UK.* 

 If you choose this option, please be aware that there may be significant waiting times at the post office during busy times of the year.

2. Collect your BRP at Brunel University London: If you wish, UKVI will send your BRP to Brunel University for you to collect here. We would strongly recommend that you select this option, particularly if you intend to stay in our on-campus accommodation or live near to the University. In order to do this, when completing your Student visa application form, you will need to enter our Alternative Collection Code (ACL), which is provided in your CAS. You will need to collect your BRP from Brunel's Student Centre, located on the ground floor of the Howell Building, during their opening hours. You will need to bring your passport and the letter that UKVI will give you to confirm your BRP collection.*

*Please note that there may be rules in place for visitors entering the UK that mean you will have to self-isolate for 10 days after arriving in the UK. If so, please do not go to collect your BRP until after this period of self-isolation has been completed. For further details, please visit the UKVI website.  

If your Student visa application includes any family members who will come to the UK with you (Dependants), you will also be able to collect their BRP here. If you need to do this, you must email their Full Name/s, Date of Birth, Relationship and your Full Name to Immigration@brunel.ac.uk

It may be possible to register at Brunel University London with another type of visa other than Student visa, provided that this does not prohibit study in the UK. This would typically include (but not restricted to) the following types of visa/immigration status:

•  A visa which is in a category outside the Points Based System (PBS), such as a spouse or diplomatic visa
•  A visa issued for another category of the PBS (such as Tier 1, Tier 2, Skilled Work, Tier 5)
• A dependant visa
• Indefinite Leave to Remain
• Refugee status or asylum application
• EU settled or pre-settled status

If you wish to enrol on a non-Student visa, we recommend that you contact the Compliance Team to confirm that your visa is suitable for registration at the University before you arrive. 

You will not be allowed to register with a visa that does not permit full-time study in the UK. Your visa should cover the duration of your course. If not, you may still be allowed to register. However, you need to be aware that your continued enrolment may depend on you being able to extend this visa or successfully switch into another immigration category. If this applies, you will be asked to consent to these terms at registration to make sure that you are aware of this.

Brunel University London’s policy is that we do not accept the following types of visa for registration:

• A Tier 4 (General)/Student visa which does not cover the whole duration of the course you are registering for
• A Tier 4 (General)/Student visa with the Sponsor Licence Number of another institution
• A Standard Visitor Visa (including family/business/academic visitors) – unless the course is less than six months long. This visa type does not permit study on a full-time course longer than six months
• A Short-term Study visa (except for an English language course of between six and eleven months)
• Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) or Start-up visas
• Graduate (post-study work) visas