Citizens of some countries are designated as visa nationals (scroll to Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list - if your country is on the list, then you are a visa national) by the Home Office. Anyone who is a visa national must make an application for Entry Clearance as a Standard Visitor from outside the UK. The visa will be issued as a sticker in your passport. Please refer to the GOV.UK website for the Standard Visitor visa application. In addition to the application you will need some supporting documents. These include:

• An original letter from Imperial College stating your personal details (name and CID number) and confirming the date(s) of your course / resit exams / viva. New students will get this letter automatically when they accept an unconditional offer of a place on a course.
• Re-sit and viva students will need to request this letter by emailing Student Records. The Student Records Team will need confirmation in writing from your department of your resit / viva dates before they can prepare the letter.
• Bank statements covering a period of at least 6 months which prove that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your time in the UK (we recommend at least £1350 per month that you intend to be in the country, in addition to any outstanding course fees).

We highly recommend that in addition to submitting these supporting documents with your visa application you also carry them with you when you travel to the UK, so that you can present them if asked to do so by an Immigration Officer at the UK Border.

Citizens of certain countries are non-visa nationals (scroll to Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list - if your country is NOT on the list, then you are a non-visa national) are able to come to the UK as a Standard Visitor without first applying for Entry Clearance (a visa issued as a sticker in your passport). Instead, these citizens can be stamped in on arrival as at the UK border, or enter the UK through eGates. If you enter the UK as a Standard Visitor you can remain for a maximum period of 6 months per calendar year.  

EU / EEA / Swiss nationals

EU / EEA /Swiss nationals with a biometric passport are permitted to use the eGates in order to enter the UK as a visitor for up to 6 months. Those without a biometric passport, are permitted to enter the UK as a visitor for up to 6 months following admission by a Border Force Officer. In either case, you will not receive a stamp endorsed in your passport.

Acceptable evidence includes a passport plus evidence of your travel to the UK. Evidence of your travel to the UK can include a boarding pass, airline ticket or another type of booking confirmation that you may have. Given that evidence of your travel to the UK may be in a digital format, an original or copy is acceptable here.

You will not require a visitor visa to enter the UK for a short period of study of less than 6 months. However for UKVI compliance, you are required to provide proof of entry to the UK. Therefore you will need to ensure you upload a copy of your boarding pass or travel ticket to My Visa on My Imperial before you are cleared to enrol.  On the My Visa tile, in the visa number field, please enter either “boarding pass” or “travel ticket”. The start date as the date you enter the UK and the end date as the date of departure from the UK OR +6 months from the arrival date. Then attach a copy of your boarding pass or travel ticket.

If you have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme then you will need to generate a share code so the College can verify your immigration status. The code to prove your immigration status is different to the code for right to work or right to rent checks. When prompted please select it is for “something else”.  Once you have the share code, please log in to My Imperial and go to the My Visa tile. In the Visa Type field, you will need to select EU and then in the visa number field please input the share code which will be checked. You can enter the start and end date of your permission. To proceed, please upload a copy of the pdf with your share code.

You will need to upload one of the following before you can enrol on your course.

• A copy of the entry stamp in your passport which you will receive upon arrival to the UK. You will need to select the visa type as “Short-Term Other”. In the visa number field, please enter the visa number which is on the top right hand corner of the vignette. The start date as the date you enter the UK and the end date as the date of departure from the UK OR +6 months from the arrival date. Then attach a copy of your entry stamp.

OR

• if you are eligible to use the E-gates to enter the UK then you will need to upload a copy of your boarding pass or travel ticket to the UK.  In the visa number field, please enter either “boarding pass” or “travel ticket”. The start date as the date you enter the UK and the end date as the date of departure from the UK OR +6 months from the arrival date. Then attach a copy of your boarding pass or travel ticket.

Once you have been granted your visa, please ensure you upload a copy of your vignette from your passport to My Visa on My Imperial. You will need to select the visa type as “Short-Term Other”. In the visa number field, please enter the visa number which is on the top right hand corner of the vignette. The start date and end date as it appears on the vignette.