International students
It is important you fully understand the immigration requirements if you want to attend university in the UK. As a Manchester Met student, you will receive all the support you need to ensure your visa application goes smoothly.
The first step is to check whether you need a visa. You will find these pages helpful whether you are still deciding which course to study at Manchester Met or if you’ve received an offer from us and are ready to make your plans to travel to the UK. Please make sure you revisit these pages from time to time throughout the application process.
Do I need to apply for a visa?
You need to apply for a visa to study in the UK unless one of the following applies:
- you are a British citizen
- you are a citizen of a European Economic Area (EEA) member state or Switzerland and have pre-settled or settled status
- you have a visa to stay in the UK for another purpose that allows you to study, such as a Dependant visa where you are the husband/wife/partner/child of someone in the UK
If you do not fall into one of the above categories, you will need to apply for a UK Student visa.
Which visa do I need?
Depending on your circumstances, you will need to apply for one of the following visas:
Student visa
Students who are studying full time on a full degree programme, International Foundation year or a pre-sessional English programme should apply for this visa. It permits some students using this visa to bring dependents to the UK with them. Please see the UK Council for International Student Affairs for more information. Please be aware that the University does not issue CAS for students studying part-time.
For courses starting in or after January 2024, only postgraduate research students will be eligible to have student visa dependants. For further information please see UKCISA’s helpful website here.
If you have interrupted your studies through a suspension you may still be eligible to have dependants. If this could be you please email an enquiry to immigration@mmu.ac.uk providing your University ID number.
Visiting visa
Students can use the visit route for courses of study that last no longer than six months, for example for returning to resit exams or to undertake an exchange or a distance learning course.
Please note, we advise students not to use an electronic gate at the airport and instead speak to a Border Officer if they are applying for their visa at the UK border.
Short-term study visa
Students taking an English language course that is between 6-11 months long can apply for a short-term study visa.
When should I apply?
Before you can apply for a student visa to study in the UK, you must first have an unconditional offer to study. This means you must apply for your place at Manchester Met before you apply for a visa. There might also be additional documents you need from us to support your visa application, such as a CAS number or a short-term study letter.
You can find full guidance on how to complete a successful visa application on our how to apply pages.
Who can I contact?
For guidance while making your visa application, we recommend you contact our Immigration Advice team via Immigration@mmu.ac.uk. For any specific queries about your visa application, you will need to provide your University ID number and screenshots of the question on the application.
We also operate a face-to-face Immigration advice service for students already on campus within the Business School Student Hub every Tuesday & Thursday. Students can drop in between 10:00am and 3:00pm on these days. Any Immigration advice-related appointments requested for outside of these hours should be made by clicking here.