Visa compliance – your responsibilities as an international student at DMU

DMU address proximity policy

University policy (Chapter 1, 2.18) states your term time address must be within 40 miles of campus.

2.18 Student Route visa Students who declare a term-time address outside of a 40-mile radius, or that are believed to have declared an address at which they do not genuinely reside in during term time will have their registration cancelled and the University will notify UKVI of a withdrawal of Student Route sponsorship for that Student

If you do not genuinely live within 40 miles of the university, this may have an impact on your engagement on your course and result in cancellation of you visa. Please ensure that you update your mydmu app with your current, genuine, UK address and contact details.

The university monitors how you engage with your classes. If you do not attend classes regularly and to a satisfactory level, you may be dismissed from your course. The Home Office will be informed, which will result in your visa being cancelled – so it’s really important that you attend classes regularly. 

If you need to be absent from the university, you should notify your faculty as soon as possible. If your attendance is unsatisfactory and your absence is not authorised, you may no longer be able to study the course and your visa may be cancelled.

Find out more about our Attendance Monitoring Policy.

It is important that you pay your tuition fees on time and reply to our income team, when contacted about your fees. Failure to do so may result in dismissal from your course and cancellation of your student visa. If you wish to discuss your tuition fees and payment, please contact our income team on 0116 207 8810 or by email income@dmu.ac.uk.

Fnd out more about our International tuition fees policy.

If you decide to change your course, it is important that you contact your faculty in the first instance to discuss this. There may be consequences to your visa if you change your course. Therefore, you will need to request a change with your faculty and complete the necessary paperwork. A change of course request form will need to be completed by your faculty and you will need to complete a supporting statement. Your faculty will then send the form to the immigration compliance team for a final decision to be made. If the new course is similar to your original course and the course end date remains the same, you may be able to change without any consequences to your visa. However, if this is not the case, you may need to return home and apply for a new visa, before being permitted to change course.

It is important that you provide your current contact and address details by updating your dmu account or app.

At points throughout your studies, the university may contact you regarding your visa. This does not mean there is anything wrong. It is usually a routine exercise to ensure our records are up to date. However, it is very important that you check your university email account regularly and respond to emails from the university regarding your studies and your visa. It is important that the university has up to date information regarding your immigration status. This is necessary for the university to meet its responsibilities as your sponsor and for you, also.

If you have to renew your visa or passport during your stay, it is important that your new visa/passport is presented to the university as soon as possible. If this is the case, please contact immigrationcompliance@dmu.ac.uk and we will arrange a time for you to come in with your documents for scanning.

You should also notify the university of any changes to your immigration status as soon as possible – for example if you change from a study visa to a different type of visa during your stay.

• Information on how to obtain most letters can be found on our letters and documents page.
• For term date letters for work or embassy purposes – please contact studentgateway@dmu.ac.uk
• For letters completion letters for work purposes – please contact immigrationcompliance@dmu.ac.uk
• The university cannot provide invitation letters to family members

You must leave the UK at the end of your studies before the expiry of your visa (if you have not applied to switch into another visa or extend your Student visa for further study). You should be aware that staying in the UK after your visa has expired (or after you have left or been terminated from your course of study) is illegal. You may be removed from the UK by the Home Office and be given a re-entry ban. This may prevent you from coming back to the UK in the future.

Once the university reports that you are no longer being sponsored to study at DMU, the Home Office will begin processing the cancellation of your visa. This means that they will cut short the length of time your visa is valid to 60 days after the date they notify you of this cancellation. Your original visa will not be valid after this point, even though the details of your original visa end dates will remain in your passport or on your Biometric Residence Permit card. You should not attempt to use this visa to re-enter the UK.

Your visa being cancelled does not mean you will not be allowed to resume your course in the future. You will need a new visa to do so as the university cannot sponsor you while you are not studying at the university.

Please note that if you leave your course early without completing it, you will not be permitted to work during the period between you leaving DMU and your visa ending (either on the original date or on the new date curtailed to 60 days)

If your visa is cancelled, you will be required to leave the country before your revised visa expiry date. If you do not, you run the risk of becoming an over stayer and you may be banned on entering the UK in future. If you have had an application for an extension to your visa and have no further right of appeal or you are unable to make an application, you should also leave the UK to avoid an unfavourable immigration record.

If you have been approved by your faculty to return to your course, you will need to obtain a new visa from your home country. In order to do this, you will need a new Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). You will not be able to make your application for a new visa until three months before the date you will resume your course. You can request a new CAS by contacting immigrationcompliance@dmu.ac.uk.

If you require a new CAS for a new course or to begin your course again, please contact admissions@dmu.ac.uk.

If you have successfully completed your course, earlier than originally stipulated on your CAS, leave is usually curtailed to the new course end date plus the additional period you were originally granted, for example one month, two or four months after the new end date, described as the 'wrap up period'. If this applies to you and you require further information, please contact the Immigration Compliance team on immigrationcompliance@dmu.ac.uk.

If you have chosen the Post Office to collect your BRP from, you will need to collect it from there. Once you have collected it, the university will need to take a copy in order to update your student record. If you are new student, you will need to bring your brp with you to your face to face registration appointment. You may not be able to register on your course, if you do not have your BRP with you.

If you have chosen to collect from the university, the International Registration team will contact you when it has arrived and has been processed. They will give you instructions on how to collect your BRP. New students will be able collect their BRP from DMU, during their face to face registration appointment.

If you need to prove your right to work, you should ask your employer to use the Employer Checking Service. Once the request is received the Home Office will confirm your right to work directly to the employer to allow them to fulfil their statutory duties.

If you need to prove your right to rent, you can ask your landlord to use the Landlord Checking Service. Once the request is received the Home Office will confirm your right to rent directly to the landlord to allow them to fulfil their statutory duties.

If you do not have a National Insurance number, you can obtain one by contacting the Department for Work and Pensions.

If the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the NHS, a Local Authority or other government department wishes to confirm your status, they should contact Status Verification, Enquiries and Checking (SVEC) at the Home Office. They will know how to do this using existing arrangements.

Anyone can register with a GP surgery.  If you wish to access the NHS for secondary healthcare, the NHS will be able to confirm your status via established Home Office communication channels. If you are asked by the NHS, you can advise them that you are awaiting the delivery of their BRP. If the NHS wishes to confirm your status, they should contact Status Verification, Enquiries and Checking (SVEC) at the Home Office.

The decision to open a bank account is a commercial decision for the bank in question. The absence of a BRP should not impact your ability to open a bank account.