Making a Tier 4 application from inside the UK
The visa information below is valid from 6 April 2012.
The information on this page must be read together with the UK Border Agency's Tier 4 Policy Guidance (version 04/12), which is referred to throughout the text below.
- Only holders of certain types of visa can extend their stay in the UK as a student. Please see section 57 of the Tier 4 Policy Guidance to check if you are in one of these categories.
- You can only extend your stay if your existing permission to be in the UK runs out one month or less before the start of your course. If your permission to stay runs out more than a month before the course start-date, you will need to return to your home country to obtain your visa.
Financial requirements if you are already in the UK with a student visa having finished another course:
There are special, lower, maintenance requirements for you if, when you make your immigration application:
• you have finished a single course that was at least six months long within your last period of entry clearance, leave to enter, or leave to remain, or
• you are applying for a continued study on a single course where you have completed at least six months of that course
If you meet all these requirements, you will be considered to have an ‘established presence’ in the UK and you have to show that you can pay up to one year's tuition fees, and a maximum of two months' maintenance costs. This means you must have (from April 2012) £2000 for maintenance costs if you need a further two months or more in the UK. You will need to show extra money for dependants.
If you do not meet the above requirements, you will need to show the same financial evidence as stated for students coming from overseas (one year's tuition fees plus (from April 2012) 9 months' living expenses @ £1000 per month). You will need to show extra money for dependants.
For an application form (and guidance notes) to extend your stay as a Student within the UK, click here. The correct form for a Student Visa is the Tier 4 (General) form.
If you obtained a visa to study at a different institution, but have changed your mind and want to study at LSHTM instead:
If you applied for your current permission to be in the UK on or after 5 October 2009, you will need to make a new immigration application from within the UK. Because LSHTM is a Highly Trusted Sponsor, if you are in the UK, you will be able to start your course at LSHTM before your visa application is approved. However, you must submit the visa application before you can start the course. We will require proof at registration that you have submitted the correct visa application (proof of postage plus a photocopy of the visa application). You must be aware, however, that there is no guarantee that your visa application will be successful, and if it fails, you may find yourself without immigration permission to remain in the UK.
If you applied for your current UK visa before 5 October 2009, please refer to section 312 onwards of the Tier 4 Policy Guidance.
If you are not in the UK, then we do not advise you to travel to the UK on a visa intended for a different institution as you may be refused entry to the UK.
