Visa problems and errors

The Home Office will usually grant additional time before and after your studies. How much additional time you receive will depend on the length of your studies, using the dates on the CAS. To see how long you should be granted, please check the table on our web page 'Is your immigration permission correct?' If the dates are incorrect, read the section below for guidance about how to correct the error. 

Work and public funds conditions are listed on your entry clearance sticker, Biometric Residence Permit if you were issued one and eVisa. It is rare for these conditions to be wrong, but if they are, errors can be corrected.  

Work - Please check our detailed guidance about the work you are permitted to undertake.

Public funds – If you have Student or Visitor immigration permission, you will correctly have the condition preventing you from claiming Public Funds, which means a specific list of welfare benefits. 

UKVI will not normally correct a date if the error was on the CAS. Instead, you will need to apply for a new CAS and make a new immigration application for the correct length of immigration permission. 

Passport sticker covering the full length of your course 

If your passport sticker covers your full programme, and there is an error, you should contact your Visa Application Centre and request a correction before you travel to the UK.  Contact us if you notice the error after you have arrived in the UK.

As soon as you have created your eVisa account, you can view and prove your Immigration Status online (whether you have been issued with a BRP or not).

If you notice an error on your eVisa, you need to Report an error with your eVisa online, we recommend you report errors as soon as you notice them to avoid issues further down the line.

Your CAS statement includes a latest date you can enrol or resume your studies at Queen Mary. Check the specific date on your CAS for your latest date to enrol. Sometimes students are unable to travel to the UK in time to meet this deadline. For example, you might not get your immigration permission in time if you apply shortly before you need to travel and there is a delay in processing your application. You might also be delayed for illness, personal difficulties or issues in your home country, which are beyond your control. 

If you believe that you will not be able to enter the UK by your latest date of arrival and would like to enquire about an extension, you can request an enrolment extension by raising an enquiry via AskQM. 

1. Click 'Contact us'.
2. Choose 'Immigration', then 'Right to Study Documentation'.
3. Write 'Enrolment Extension Request' as the subject and include your student ID number and an explanation of why you cannot complete enrolment by the extended deadline.

Please see the Enrolment FAQs for more details.

While you are waiting to travel to the UK, ask your academic school if you can have access to the induction and academic information that you are missing, so that you can try to not fall too far behind. You can also use the information on our website to prepare for arriving in the UK, for example information about arriving in the UK, accessing healthcare, opening a bank account, managing your money and working. 

Please note missing essential teaching and induction activities due to joining your programme late cannot be used as grounds for an ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ claim if you encounter academic problems later in your studies.  

If your school will not allow late arrival, you can ask whether your place can be deferred until the next academic year.  

If you are delayed and unable to attend the Welcome Programme, see the late arrivals section on Queen Mary's New Students website.

Warning: If your academic school will not allow you to enrol late, do not travel to the UK. You will not be allowed to enrol, and it is likely you will not be allowed to enter the UK using your Student immigration permission. The University will notify the Home Office that you cannot enrol. 

If the University notifies the Home Office that you will not be allowed to enrol, the following will happen: 

• If your immigration application has not yet been decided, it will be refused, as your CAS will no longer be valid. You may wish to withdraw your application before it is refused so that you do not have a refusal as part of your UK immigration history. Contact us for advice. 
• If your immigration application has been granted, but you have not yet travelled to the UK, your immigration permission is likely to be cancelled. If you try to travel to the UK, you are likely to be refused entry. 
• If your immigration application has been granted and you are already in the UK, the Home Office should cancel your immigration permission. You should leave the UK before the new visa expiry date. 

You may be asked to upload further documents as part of the Student immigration application process. Please follow the instructions on the email from the Home Office. 

If you do not have the documents requested, it is important to get advice from the Advice and Counselling Service or another regulated immigration adviser  before taking further action as this will normally be your last opportunity to correct any errors or problems.

If you travel before a decision has been made on your Student immigration application, then this will withdraw your pending application.  

If you need to travel urgently, for example for the funeral of a relative, then you can contact Advice and Counselling with evidence of your situation, and we can try to chase up a decision for you. However please note that UKVI do not guarantee that they will be able to process urgent applications more quickly. 

If you cannot wait for UKVI to process your application, you can ask to withdraw it. This means that UKVI will return your application to you unprocessed. If your immigration permission has already expired, you will be considered an overstayer  from the date that you made your online request to withdraw your application, not from the date when your immigration permission expired. Information about how to withdraw your immigration application, and refund eligibility is on the UK Government website. 

If you decide to withdraw your application for emergency travel, you will need to apply for entry clearance from your home country before returning to the UK.  

If you are having issues creating your eVisa account, please refer to "eVisa troubleshooting and reporting technical issues" for guidance on how to contact the Resolution Centre. 

We have separate guidance about the fund requirement for a Student immigration application. Please check the guidance to see whether you need to evidence your funds, and if so, how much money you need to show. You must have held the required money in your bank account for a consecutive 28-day period BEFORE you submit your online immigration application. Although you are allowed 45 working days to attend your appointment if you are in the UK, UKVI will not count any money held after the date you submitted your online immigration application. 

If you need to show funds, but did not evidence sufficient funds for 28 days before you applied, please contact an Adviser at the Advice and Counselling Service urgently. 

If you stay in the UK after your visa expires without making a valid visa application in an appropriate category, you become an ‘overstayer’ and are considered to be in the UK without a legal status. This can have very serious consequences. 

• You do not have immigration permission that allows you to study, so you will not be permitted to be enrolled on your course. 
• The University will not issue you with a CAS to make a further immigration application in the UK.  
• If you overstay for more than 30 days, any new immigration application you make to return to the UK will normally be automatically refused for 12 months from the day you leave the UK. If you are unsure when your period of overstay began, please contact an Adviser.  
• You are in the UK illegally and if the police become aware of your situation, you could be detained, imprisoned and/or fined. 
• You no longer have the right to undertake any type of work (paid or unpaid) 
• You would have to pay for non-emergency NHS hospital treatment 
• You would need to declare your overstay in any future UK immigration application. A period of overstaying could cause problems with future immigration applications for the UK and other countries. 
• You may be required to report to an Immigration Office every two weeks 
• You will not have a right to rent, which means that you will not be able to enter into a new tenancy agreement with certain types of landlords 
• Anyone who is in the UK as your dependant will be in the same position regarding all of the above.  

​It is important to understand that there is no “grace period” for overstaying. The period of overstay would begin from the day after your visa expires.