17 December 2024

What is visa sponsorship?

Visa sponsorship determines whether applicants are eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants with two or more applications can have a joint visa sponsorship for two applications. The Nationality and entry point calculation feature can set the visa sponsorship status of applications by evaluating the nationality of the applicant and the entry point of the application. For eligible applicants, create CAS requests. CAS requests are requests for a CAS (confirmation of acceptance for studies) from UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration). A CAS enables an overseas applicant to apply for a student visa. CAS requests are processed by staff using the Visa Sponsorship app. You can track the progress of a CAS request up until a CAS request is assigned a CAS number by UKVI.

Visa sponsorship status

Applicants have a visa sponsorship status for their applications. However, for applications added without a visa sponsorship status, you can set the status manually or enable the Nationality and entry point calculation feature to set status automatically. Applicants with two or more applications can have a joint visa sponsorship for two applications. The visa sponsorship status indicates the following:

Eligible: Applicant requires a student visa and is eligible for visa sponsorship. For applicants eligible for visa applications, create a CAS request.
Not eligible: Applicant requires a student visa, but is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
Not required: Applicant does not require visa sponsorship. For example, the applicant's nationality means they don't need a student visa.
Other visa: Applicant already has another visa that allows them to study so does not require visa sponsorship.
Query: Applicant's visa sponsorship requirements are unknown and further investigation is required. That is, contact the applicant to check whether they need a student visa. For example, a Portuguese applicant may be exempt as they have indefinite leave to remain.
Required: Applicant requires a student visa and does not have another visa that allows them to study. Checks are needed to make sure that the applicant is eligible to be sponsored for a student visa. For more information, go to UKVI student sponsor guidance .

Nationality and entry point calculation

Applications transferred through integrations may already have a visa sponsorship status set. For example, applications have a visa sponsorship status of Not required, Required, Query, or Other visa. However, for applications without a visa sponsorship status, you need to set the status.

You can choose to set the visa sponsorship status manually or automatically by enabling Nationality and entry point calculation. The Nationality and entry point calculation sets the visa sponsorship status by evaluating the nationality of the applicant and the entry point of the application when the application is received and after duplicate matching. If both the nationality and entry point require a visa, then the visa sponsorship status is set to Query. Otherwise, the status is set to Not required.

For applicants with dual nationality, if either of the nationalities does not require a visa and the entry point requires a visa, the visa sponsorship status is set to Not required.

For Nationality and entry point calculation to calculate the visa sponsorship status, the reference data Nationality and Entry point must have been set up with the option Is visa required set as appropriate. The Nationality and entry point calculation option is an admissions setting. You need the Admissions settings area permissions Immigration settings - Edit to set the option.

The visa sponsorship status is calculated only when applications are received and after duplicate matching. If the visa requirements for nationality or entry point change during processing, the status is not updated automatically. Admissions staff must manually review and update the visa sponsorship status if necessary.

Eligibility for visa sponsorship

For applications with the visa sponsorship status Query and Required, you need to establish whether the applicants are eligible for visa sponsorship. This can be done before or after making a decision.

Before making a decision

The image Before decision shows how to process applications, detailed below, with a visa sponsorship status Query and Required before making a decision on the applications.

Nationality and entry point calculation sets the visa sponsorship status of applications in the New applications folder without a status to Query or Required.
Workflows move the applications from the New applications folder as follows:
- Applications with the status Query move to the Immigration checks folder (go to step 3).
- Applications with the status Required to the folder Checks in progress folder (go to step 5).
Workflows add clearance checks to applications in the Immigration checks folder to complete a questionnaire on immigration.
Admissions staff review the questionnaire and set the visa sponsorship status as follows:

Required: workflows move the applications to the Checks in progress folder (go to step 5).
Not required: there is no need to establish eligibility.

Admissions staff complete the checks, including checks that applications are eligible for visa sponsorship. Then, set the visa sponsorship status to Eligible or Not eligible as appropriate.
Workflows move applications with the visa sponsorship status Eligible to the Ready for decision and decisions made on the applications. Then, applicants with offers can then accept or decline the offers.

After making a decision

The image After decision shows how to process applications, detailed below, with a visa sponsorship status Query and Required after making a decision on the applications.

Nationality and entry point calculation sets the visa sponsorship status of applications in the New applications folder without a status to Query or Required.
Workflows move the applications to the Ready for decision folder and admissions make decisions on the applications.
Admissions staff review the applications and make offers and workflows move the application to the Offer made folder and add clearance checks for applicants to complete a questionnaire on their immigration status.
Admissions staff review the questionnaire and set the visa sponsorship status as follows:

Required: admissions staff then establish the applicant's eligibility of visa sponsorship .
Not required: there is no need to establish eligibility.

Applicants accept the offers and workflows move applications that are eligible with the visa sponsorship to the Awaiting visa sponsorship folder.

The processes detailed above use workflows to move applications to folders and to add clearance checks. For information on workflows, go to What is workflow? and the examples:

How to move applications to folders that describes how to build a workflow that moves applications to folders.
How to add clearance checks that describes how to build a workflow that adds clearance checks to international applications.

CAS requests

A CAS request is a request for a CAS (confirmation of acceptance for studies) from UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration). A CAS enables an overseas applicant to apply for a student visa. CAS requests are processed by staff using the Visa Sponsorship app. You can track the progress of a CAS request up until a CAS request is assigned a CAS number by UKVI. Applicants are alerted to CAS numbers being assigned in the applicant portal and can view a document detailing their CAS.

For applicants eligible for visa sponsorship, create a CAS request on Identity and immigration tab of applications. Creating a CAS request adds the CAS request to the Visa sponsorship app with the mandatory information from the applicant's person profile and the applications. If available, additional information, such as passport details, is included in the CAS request. For joint visa sponsorship, the programme titles are combined and the course date is the earliest start date from the applications.

The table CAS request mandatory information details the required information and the location of the information on the application or person profile.

CAS request mandatory information
Information	Location
Application number	Application and then Application tab and then Application ID
Course start date	Application and then Application tab and then Start date or Application > Application tab and then Entry point and then Start date
Date of birth	Person profile and then Culture and environment tab and then Date of birth
Family name	Person profile and then Identity tab and then Surname
Nationality	Person profile and then Community and nationality tab and then Nationality 1
Student ID	Person profile and then Identity tab and then Student code

CAS request status

On creating a CAS request, the CAS request is added to the Visa sponsorship app and has the status Preparing. Staff responsible for processing the CAS requests then prepare the CAS request by ensuring that the CAS request has all the information required by UKVI, such as the passport details, course level, institution details, and so on. Then, on obtaining a CAS number, the visa sponsorship staff communicate the CAS number and any relevant details to you, which you then send to the applicant.

For an application that has a CAS with the status Abandoned or has one of the completed states at UKVI, such as Expired or Used, admissions staff can create a new CAS for the application. Admissions staff can also view history of the CAS requests for an application.

The image CAS request status shows that the current CAS request status of the application is Abandoned and that the application has three CAS requests associated with it, as represented by the three dots ( eact represents a CAS request associated with the application ).

The table CAS request status details the status of CAS requests, which is shown on applications, as the CAS requests are processed in the Visa sponsorship.

CAS request status
Status	Description
Preparing	CAS request is being prepared by visa sponsorship staff, which momentarily show as Pending creation.
Awaiting approval	CAS request is being checked by visa sponsorship staff.
Ready to send to UKVI	CAS request is being added to the UKVI portal by visa sponsorship staff. Note that the status of CAS requests can move back to Awaiting approval if any problems are found.
Sending to UKVI	CAS request has been added to a CAS export file ready to upload on the UKVI portal.
Assigned	CAS number has been assigned to the CAS request. Applicants then receive an email alerting them that their CAS number is available to download in the applicant portal. After the CAS number has been assigned, you should create a clearance check to request evidence of the applicant's student visa.
Abandoned	CAS request has been abandoned.
Cancelled	CAS request has been cancelled by UKVI.
Expired	CAS request was not used with an application before the expiry date or the expiry data passed before the application could be processed.
Obsolete	CAS request no longer required as another CAS request is associated with the application.
Used	CAS request has been used to support the application.
Withdrawn	CAS request was withdrawn from UKVI.