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Short Term Study Visitor

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Students coming to the UK for an English language course between 6 – 11 months long can apply for a Short Term Study visa. Applicants are required to apply for Entry Clearance from outside the UK and will need to meet the application requirements including:

  • Evidence that you can support yourself during your trip, for example bank statements or payslips for the last 6 months
     
  • Details of where you intend to stay and your travel plans - you should not pay for accommodation or travel until you get your visa 

  • Evidence that you’ve paid your course fees or have enough money to pay them 

  • Your tuberculosis (TB) test results, if you’re from a country where you have to take the TB test 

  • ATAS certificate if applicable 

  • A letter from Northumbria University confirming your course details.  

Students must be able to demonstrate their genuineness as an applicant to apply for a Short Term Study visa to then travel to the UK. If The Home Office/UKVI feel that you do not sufficiently show this within your application for leave to enter the UK, you visa application may be refused.

You can find details of the requirements for the Short Term Study visa here.  

Applicants should not intend to settle in the UK, or use successive leave under Short Term Study to make the UK their home.   

Successful applicants will receive a vignette transit visa, you must travel to the UK before the end date of the transit visa. You will also need to generate a share code when you receive your eVisa to provide the University with your immigration permission.

While in the UK on a Short Term study visa you cannot change course or institution, you must also leave the UK within 30 days of course end date. Failure to do so can impact your UK immigration record.  

Visitor visa

Applicants who will be studying a course of 6 months of less in length, at an accredited institution, may be able to apply for a visitor visa. 

Only certain type of study can be undertaken while on a visitor visa, these include: 

  • Study of a programme of 6 months or less in length
     
  • Re-sitting examinations 

  • Taking part in a viva as part of your Postgraduate Research programme 

  • Study abroad programmes of less than 6 months in length 

You will require a letter from Northumbria University which confirms the type of study you will be undertaking.  

If you are studying a programme which requires ATAS you must apply for this before travelling to the UK, you should apply as soon as you are notified of your ATAS requirement.  

Applying for your visitor visa

Not all students are required to apply for entry clearance, some nationals can apply for this visa on entry to the UK. You should carefully read the information on UKCISA to assess whether you are required to apply for entry clearance before travelling to the UK.  

If you are not required to apply for entry clearance, and use e-Gates when entering the UK you should keep your boarding pass as evidence of your route and date of entry to the UK. You will be required to show this as part of your enrolment.  

Electronic Visa Waiver

You can no longer apply for an electronic visa waiver (EVW) to enter the UK.

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)

An Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will soon be a requirement for people who do not need a visa to come to the UK. It will give you permission to travel to the UK, and it will be electronically linked to your passport.

You will need an ETA to come to the UK for up to 6 months as a visitor.  An ETA provides an individual with permission to travel to the UK and must be obtained in advance of travel. As an ETA only provides permission to travel to the UK, eligible individuals with an ETA must also subsequently obtain permission to enter the UK on arrival.

 

In order to apply you can either use the UK ETA app or apply online on the gov.uk website. Applications are automated, electronically linked to your passport, and cost £10 per applicant. From 9 April it will cost £16 to apply for an ETA.


The following nationalities can apply for an ETA to travel to the UK now:

 

Antigua and Barbuda

  

Canada

  

Kuwait

  

Nicaragua

Seychelles

 

United Arab Emirates

 

Argentina

 		  

Chile

  

Macao Special Administrative Region

  

Oman

  

Singapore

  

United States
 

Australia

  

Costa Rica

  

Malaysia

  

Palau

  

Solomon Islands

  

Uruguay 
 

The Bahamas

  

Grenada

  

Maldives

  

Panama

  

South Korea

  
 

Bahrain

  

Guatemala

  

Marshall Islands

  

Papua New Guinea

  

St Kitts and Nevis

  
 

Barbados

  

Guyana

  

Mauritius

  

Paraguay

  

St Lucia

  
 

Belize

  

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (including British national overseas)

  

Mexico

  

Peru

  

St Vincent and the Grenadines

  
 

Botswana

  

Israel

  

Federated States of Micronesia

  

Qatar

  

Taiwan (if you have a passport issued by Taiwan that includes in it the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan)

  
 

Brazil

  

Japan

  

Nauru

  

Samoa

  

Tonga

  
 

Brunei

  

Kiribati

  

New Zealand

  

Saudi Arabia

  

Tuvalu

  

 

The following nationalities can apply for an ETA from 5 March 2025 if travelling to the UK from 2 April 2025:

 

 

Andorra

  

France

  

Malta

  

Spain
 

Austria

  

Germany

  

Monaco

  

Sweden
 

Belgium

  

Greece

  

Netherlands

  

Switzerland
 

Bulgaria

  

Hungary

  

Norway

Vatican City

 
 

Croatia

  

Iceland

  

Poland

  
 

Cyprus

  

Italy

  

Portugal

  
 

Czechia

  

Latvia

  

Romania

  
 

Denmark

  

Liechtenstein

  

San Marino

  
 

Estonia

  

Lithuania

  

Slovakia

  
 

Finland

  

Luxembourg

  

Slovenia

  


  

Trinidad and Tobago 

New provisions have been imposed for citizens and nationals of Trinidad and Tobago wishing to travel to the UK. Trinidad and Tobago has been added to the visa national list and consequently removed from Appendix Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Trinidad and Tobago citizens and nationals are now required to obtain entry clearance (a Visitor visa) before travelling to the UK, as opposed to being able to seek permission to enter the UK upon arrival. This change was implemented with immediate effect from 3pm GMT on 12 March 2025. 

Transitional arrangements are in place for any citizens and nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who hold a confirmed travel booking to the UK made before 3pm GMT on 12 March 2025. If this booking leads to arrival in the UK no later than 3pm BST on 23 April 2025, they will not be subjected to this change. 

 

Other nationalities cannot get an ETA.

 

You can come to the UK on ETA to study a short-term course of 6 months or less, repeat a module with attendance which is shorter than 6 months or resit an exam. If you would like to study on the course which is longer than 6 months, you will need to apply for a Short-term Study visa (if you are studying on English language course) or Student visa (if you are studying on a full-time academic course towards an RQF Level 3 or above qualification, for example, IFP, Bachelor Degree, Master’s Degree, PhD ) prior to your arrival to the UK.

You can find further information on ETA in this video.


To find out more about an Electronic Travel Authorisation, please visit the gov.uk website.

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