Visa process
Running a UK Student visa case
Two things decide a UK case and neither is the application form: the CAS, and whether the maintenance funds sat still for 28 days. Get both right and the rest is administration.
Checked against the official source on 2026-09-01
The document everything waits on
CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies)
- Issued by
- The licensed student sponsor - the university or college
- How long it takes
- 5 to 10 working days after the deposit is paid
A CAS is a reference number, not a letter. Check the course dates, the fees already paid and the spelling of the name against the passport before it is used - a CAS with an error has to be reissued and that restarts the wait.
The 28-day rule, which is where cases are lost
Maintenance funds must have been held in the account for 28 consecutive days, and the closing balance of that period must be dated no more than 31 days before the application is submitted. Both halves matter and the second one is the half people forget.
A single dip below the required amount on any day in that window resets the 28 days. So does moving money between accounts to consolidate it, which families do constantly with good intentions right before applying.
The practical rule for a counsellor: fix the account, fix the amount, and tell the family not to touch it for a month. Then take the statement.
What is paid and when
The immigration health surcharge is paid as part of the online application and is usually the largest single cost after tuition. It is charged for the full length of the visa, not per year of study.
Biometrics are given after submission. A tuberculosis test is required for students from listed countries - Vietnam is one - and the certificate must come from an approved clinic, not from any hospital.
The credibility interview
Not every applicant gets one, and being asked for one is not a bad sign by itself. It tests whether the student chose the course and understands it, so a student who cannot explain why this course at this university is the case that struggles.
Preparation means making sure the student actually knows their own application. If a counsellor wrote the personal statement, that shows up here immediately.
What trips these cases up
Drawn from refusal reasons rather than from official guidance. Shortest first.
- Money moved between accounts inside the 28-day window, resetting it.
- A closing balance older than 31 days by the time the application is submitted.
- A CAS used after the course start date changed, without asking for a reissue.
- TB certificate from a clinic that is not on the approved list.
- The name on the application differing from the passport by a middle name or diacritic.
- Forgetting that the health surcharge covers the whole visa length, and budgeting for one year.
The milestones, in order
The track Visatory ships for this country. Each agency can edit its own copy; this is the starting point.
- 01Unconditional offer acceptedstudent · 3 working days
- 02Tuition deposit paidstudent · 7 working days
- 03CAS requested from the sponsoragency · 2 working days
- 04CAS issuedinstitution · 10 working days
- 05Maintenance funds held for 28 daysstudent · 28 working days
- 06Tuberculosis test completedoptionalstudent · 7 working days
- 07Online application submittedagency · 3 working days
- 08Immigration health surcharge paidstudent · 1 working days
- 09Biometrics appointment attendedstudent · 10 working days
- 10Credibility interviewoptionalgovernment
- 11Decision receivedgovernment · 21 working days
- 12eVisa or BRP collectedoptionalstudent
Questions counsellors ask
- What exactly is a CAS?
- A reference number issued by the university confirming it has offered the student a place and will sponsor the visa. It is used once, it expires, and it can be withdrawn - so it is issued late in the process, not early.
- Can a parent's account be used for maintenance?
- Yes, with evidence of the relationship and the parent's written consent. The same 28-day rule applies to that account.
- How long is the decision?
- Around three weeks for a standard application from Vietnam, longer in the July to September peak. Build the peak into the plan rather than discovering it.
Running these cases in a spreadsheet?
Visatory tracks every milestone above per student, warns when one goes stale, and keeps the documents and the dates in the same place as the commission. Built for agencies rather than adapted from a sales tool.