Who needs to attend

You will need to attend a passport check and visa collection session if:

• you are a new student and your nationality is subject to immigration control
• you are returning to the University after a period of suspense and your nationality is subject to immigration control
• you have a new Student visa for any reason

For new students, 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.

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

Student visa holders

If you are sponsored by the University of Bath for your Student visa, you will need to attend a passport check and visa collection session to show your original passport, and collect your BRP (if you have one).

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.

You may not be allowed to start your course until you have a visa for the University of Bath. If you have a Student visa for another institution, you must apply to UKVI for a visa for the University of Bath before you can register.

Before you attend a passport check and visa collection session

As soon as you receive a decision on your Student visa application and before you attend, please upload copies 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. Please 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). Please upload:

• your valid passport / ID document
• your share code to prove your immigration status (valid for 30 days)

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.

If you have applied for your Student visa from inside the UK and are still waiting for a decision, 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
• a copy of your submitted Student visa application
• the Document Checklist from the online visa application

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

What to bring with you

Please bring the following documents 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

BRP collection for Student visa holders

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 and visa collection 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.

All other types of immigration permission

If you do not have a Student visa, but require immigration permission to study in the UK, you will also need to attend a passport check session to show the University your passport and current immigration permission. For example, if you have a British National (Overseas) visa or a Skilled Worker visa, you will need to attend.

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 to Application Tracker before you attend a passport check session.

We will likely ask you to upload:

• your passport
• evidence of immigration permission such as your BRP card or your share code to prove your immigration status (valid for 90 days)

What to bring with you

Please bring the following documents with you:

• your passport
• your BRP card (if you have one)

Times and locations

You do not need to book an appointment and can just turn up during the times listed below. The check should only take 10-minutes. However, please note during arrivals weekend and Welcome Week, there may be queues. If there are queues, we may also ask you to return at a later time when it is quieter.

Please note, our office space is limited therefore we kindly ask that you do not bring friends and family with you when attending.

The sessions take place in Wessex House 8.16 between 10:00 and 16:00 from Monday to Friday up until Friday 20 September 2024. Please note, there is no passport check and visa collection available on Saturday 21 September 2024.

From Sunday 22 September 2024, times are as follows:

After Friday 27 September 2024, passport checks and visa collection will take place in Wessex House 8.16 between 10:00 and 16:00 from Monday to Friday.