Visitor visas: Visit to study

In this section:

International students who are registered on degree-level programmes overseas can be invited to visit the UK to study for up to six months to:

study a course
undertake unpaid research relevant to their course overseas or learn about research
complete unpaid elective courses linked to their overseas study, if they are studying medicine, nursing, midwifery, veterinary medicine and science, or dentistry.

Visiting students cannot:

be paid, fill or cover a role, do work experience, work placements, or internships
undertake additional study, access medical treatment, claim public funds or live in the UK through successive visits.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

Student visitors who will be carrying out postgraduate level research in STEM subjects must obtain Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) approval before they start the research. ATAS approval can take several months and further information is available on the ATAS webpages.

Next steps

Check whether the visitor requires ATAS approval and obtain a copy of the ATAS certificate.
Issue a visitor invitation letter (Google Doc) to the visitor, including a brief description of how the research is relevant to their overseas course.
The student's overseas course provider must confirm that the research is part of or relevant to their enrolled course of study.
The visitor's visa must be checked on arrival in the department.

Useful information and links

Further information for departmental colleagues is available on our Visitor visas webpage.
Further information for visitors is available on our Supporting international visitors webpage.
UKVI Guidance: Visit to study (gov.uk)

Should you have any questions or queries you can contact the team at hr-compliance@york.ac.uk.