PhD Student Visa

What the PhD Student visa is

Doctoral study is covered by the Student visa, with conditions that are more generous than for other students.

A PhD or other doctorate is a course at RQF level 8, the top of the “degree level or above” band in the Student rules. You apply for the Student visa with a CAS from a licensed sponsor, prove your funds and English, and — if your subject is covered by the Academic Technology Approval Scheme — obtain an ATAS certificate first. Two things set doctoral students apart from most other students: you can be joined by your partner and children, and the Graduate visa you can apply for afterwards lasts 3 years rather than 2 years or 18 months.

Apply up to 6 months before your programme starts from outside the UK (decision usually within 3 weeks) or up to 3 months before from inside the UK (usually 8 weeks). Your visa is granted for the course length plus 1 month before and 4 months after, and you can extend to complete the same doctorate without showing academic progress.

Eligibility in detail

The requirements you must meet at the date of application.

• CAS from a licensed sponsor

  An unconditional offer of a place on a doctoral programme with a licensed student sponsor, shown by a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. Apply within 6 months of the CAS being issued.

• Course level

  A PhD or other doctorate at RQF level 8. Full-time study gives work rights and dependant rights; a part-time doctorate is permitted but carries neither.

• English language

  CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Your university may assess this itself as a higher education provider, or you can rely on an approved SELT, a degree taught in English, or an exemption.

• Previous qualifications

  Set by the university, not by the visa rules — most doctoral programmes expect a master’s or a strong bachelor’s degree. The CAS confirms the sponsor is satisfied.

• ATAS certificate

  Required before you apply if your research falls within the scheme’s CAH3 subject codes and you are not from an exempt country. Allow at least 30 working days; there is no fast track and you must wait 90 days before reapplying for the same course.

• Course fees

  Your first year’s fees as shown on the CAS, less any amount already paid. Funded students whose sponsorship is recorded on the CAS do not need to show this money separately.

• Living costs (London)

  £1,529 for each month, up to a maximum of 9 months (£13,761). London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs.

• Living costs (outside London)

  £1,171 for each month, up to a maximum of 9 months (£10,539).

• The 28-day rule

  Funds held for at least 28 consecutive days, the end of that period falling within 31 days of your application. Not required if you have been in the UK on a valid visa for at least 12 months.

• Genuine student

  Appendix Student requires you to be a genuine student. Doctoral applicants may be asked about their research proposal, supervisor, funding and post-study plans at a credibility interview.

Fees and costs

Figures as published on GOV.UK, content as at 26 August 2026.

Student visa application fee (outside or inside the UK)

£558

Immigration Health Surcharge, student rate (per year)

£776

Immigration Health Surcharge, GOV.UK example for a 4-year visa

£3,104

Immigration Health Surcharge, part-year of 6 months or less

£388

ATAS certificate application

No fee

Priority service, where offered (5 working days)

£500 extra

Super priority service, where offered (next working day)

£1,000 extra

Maintenance to show — London (per month, up to 9 months)

£1,529

Maintenance to show — outside London (per month, up to 9 months)

£1,171

Dependant fee (partner or child)

£558 each

Dependant maintenance — London / outside London (per month)

£845 / £680

Graduate visa after your PhD: fee

£937

Graduate visa after your PhD: health surcharge for 3 years

£3,105

The surcharge is calculated on the whole period of permission, including the months granted before and after your programme, so the exact figure depends on your CAS dates; the online application shows it before you pay. Faster-decision services are not available everywhere and the priority fee is not usually refunded if the decision takes longer than the standard.

Processing times

UK Visas and Immigration standard service times, plus the ATAS lead time you must plan around.

ATAS certificate (apply before the visa)

At least 30 working days

Student visa — applying from outside the UK

3 weeks

Student visa — extending or switching inside the UK

8 weeks

Dependant partner or child — outside / inside the UK

3 weeks / 8 weeks

Graduate visa — inside the UK after your PhD

8 weeks

Priority service (where available)

5 working days

Super priority service (where available)

End of the next working day

Visa processing times run on the UK working week and include UK public holidays. UKVI will tell you within the standard time if your application will take longer, for example because documents need verifying or you are called for interview. Because ATAS takes at least 6 weeks and must be in hand before you apply, funded doctoral candidates should start the ATAS application as soon as the offer letter with the CAH3 code arrives. Source: GOV.UK “Visa processing times: applications outside the UK” (updated 26 June 2026), “applications inside the UK” (updated 21 July 2025) and the ATAS guidance.

Documents you’ll need

What GOV.UK requires, with the financial evidence rules that apply to studentships and bank statements.

• A current passport or other valid travel document
• Your CAS reference number from the university
• A valid ATAS certificate if your research subject and nationality require one
• Proof of funds for first-year fees and living costs, unless exempt
• Proof of English at CEFR B2, unless exempt or assessed by your higher education provider
• Tuberculosis test results if you are applying from a listed country
• Written consent to your application from your financial sponsor if a studentship or scholarship has paid your fees and living costs in the last 12 months
• Relationship evidence — marriage or civil partnership certificate, birth certificates — if your partner or children are applying
• Certified translations of any document not in English or Welsh

Working, dependants and what you can’t do

Conditions for a full-time doctoral student at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance.

• Work up to 20 hours a week during term time and full-time outside term time — for a research degree your university defines term time, and many treat the whole year as term
• Do work that is an assessed, integral part of your programme without it counting towards the limit
• Start a full-time permanent job once you have completed and have a Graduate visa application pending, or up to 3 months before your completion date with a Skilled Worker application pending
• Bring your partner and children under 18 as dependants on a full-time doctorate lasting 9 months or longer
• Your dependants can work (except as a professional sportsperson) and study, subject to ATAS where it applies to them

After your PhD: Graduate visa, extending and switching

How GOV.UK describes the routes open to a doctoral graduate.

• Your dependants can apply to stay with you on the Graduate visa if they were already your dependants on the Student visa or were born in the UK during it
• If your studentship covered your living costs in the last 12 months you need the funder’s written approval for the Graduate visa application, and so does each dependant
• Time on the Student and Graduate visas does not count towards settlement; the qualifying period runs on the work route you move into
• Voluntary work on the Graduate visa must be unpaid and for a registered charity, voluntary organisation, associated fundraising body or statutory body

Types of doctoral programme

All are RQF level 8 courses for visa purposes; the differences matter for funding and duration, not for the rules.

Common refusal reasons

Each follows from a mandatory requirement of the Student route or the general grounds for refusal.

• No valid ATAS certificate submitted for a research subject and nationality that require one, or the certificate covers a different institution, CAH3 code or dates
• Funds not held for 28 consecutive days, or the closing balance on the statement is dated more than 31 days before the application
• Studentship or scholarship relied on but not recorded on the CAS and not confirmed by a compliant sponsor letter
• Maintenance calculated at the outside-London rate for a London institution, or without the additional £845 or £680 a month for each dependant
• Funds held as an overdraft, in shares or cryptocurrency, in a pension, or with a bank UKVI cannot verify
• CAS details do not match the application, or the application is made more than 6 months after the CAS was issued
• Financial sponsor’s written consent to the application missing where the sponsor paid fees and living costs in the last 12 months
• English evidence below CEFR B2 or from a test not accepted for the route
• Credibility interview answers inconsistent with the research proposal, funding or post-study plans, so the genuine student requirement is not met
• Dependant application made where the course does not qualify — for example a part-time doctorate — or a general ground such as false representations or a previous breach of conditions

Source and verification

Information sourced from GOV.UK (Student visa; Graduate visa; Financial evidence for Student and Child Student visa applicants; Academic Technology Approval Scheme guidance; Visa processing times; Immigration Rules Appendix Student), content as at 26 August 2026, and reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Rules change; we verify requirements at the point of instruction.

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