Q: I am receiving scholarships, grants, and subsidized tuition fees/housing. How should I account for that?

For a UK Student Visa (Tier 4) application, the UK visa office requires that you prove that you can afford the first year's tuition and also £5400 of living expenses (more if the university is located in London). However, if you are receiving any sort of aid or sponsorship, you need to stress that and make it very clear in your application, otherwise you might find yourself rejected and having to go through a lengthly appeal or administrative review process.

The recommendation here is to make sure you have documents relating to all your financial aid; for example if it is a scholarship, you need to show a letter from the organization paying for your tuition/housing fees. If a relative is sponsoring you, you need letters from them as well as their bank statements showing so. If the university is subsidizing your tuition/housing fees, you need a letter from them.

There are extremely detailed instructions in the application pack, but the key points to remember is that all documents must state everything very clearly (e.g. amount, money is for you, etc).

Q: Do I need an ATAS certificate?

The ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) certificate is required if you plan to study a post-graduate course in the UK, or if you wish to conduct academic research here for longer than 6 months. You need to get this certificate before you apply for your student visa. However, ATAS is only required for certain courses. All the official information and details are available here.

However, be aware that it can sometimes take a very long time to get an ATAS certificate, and a 5 week wait is not at all unusual and can sometimes take much longer. The guidance time for a straight-foward ATAS application is 2 weeks, but if there are problems getting your references for example it will delay the application.

Q: I've applied and sent off for my ATAS certificate, but it has not arrived. Meanwhile my visa has expired. What should I do?

First of all, don't panic. You are still allowed to remain the UK. While your ATAS certificate is being processed, you can apply for a visa extension, and state that you will send in your ATAS certificate when you receive it. However, this is a grey area and you should consult your lawyer, as if you submit an extension application and it is rejected, you might find yourself in the situation without a right to appeal (due to missing document in application that was clearly requested).

Q: Are student visa holders allowed to work full time?

The law states that students are allowed to work part time up to 20 hours a week during term time, and 40 hours a week during holidays. While the law is not exactly very strict with regards to actual working hours (no-one will come after you if you work 21 hours during term time), it is best to stick to the law as the consequence is a revoked student visa and deportation.

For students planning to do a full-time internship or work during the summer, there is the concern that certain jobs that require more than 40 hours of work per week might breach the rules. However, make sure your contract with your employer states that the expected hours of work per week are less than 40 hours, but "due to business demands you may be expected to work longer hours as necessary, but not be paid overtime".

For postgraduate students, please note that having no lectures or classes does not mean that you are outside of term time and allowed to work full-time. Even if you have been given "leave" for reading week or writing up your dissertation, it is still considered term time. For clarity on the boundary between term and holiday, you can request for a letter from your Registry stating term and holiday dates which you should then follow.

Q: Can I work on my student visa after graduation?

Most undergraduate university students will end their courses in June/July, with student visas expiring in September or October. This is a grey area, and the absolute correct stance is to get a work permit (Tier 2) or HSMP (Tier 1) visa before commencing full-time work. However, due to requirements for graduation letters and such to apply for these visas, the Home Office turns a blind eye to graduates who use their student visas to work full time, provided that you can show you are going to or currently applying for a work permit.

But be aware that if you are traveling in or out of the country and go through Border Control (e.g. at airports), you cannot state that you returning to the country to work on the student visa, even if you have graduated. The correct answer would be that you are returning to the country to await your graduation ceremony and that you are still a student (but working part/full time in the meantime during the holiday period).