Moving to a new country is exciting and challenging. We understand that the immigration process is complicated, and we hope the following information will help to make it clear for you. 

Immigration advice at BU

According to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), only designated and trained members of staff may give immigration advice.

At BU, our Immigration Advice and Compliance Team have fully trained immigration advisers for the Student Route who can provide free advice. If you have any questions about your student visa application, you will be directed to a member of this team. You will also find useful information on our website.

External Immigration advice

For student friendly concise immigration information and guidance please visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs. We highly recommend using this resource when preparing to come to the UK to study.  

If you require immigration advice on any other visa routes or if our trained advisors are unavailable you can search for a trained advisor on the UK government website. Please note these advisors may charge.

Please note that the people who deal with immigration enquiries at the Home Office are not trained immigration advisers.

Information for Student visa holders who want to bring dependants to the UK

Under the Points-Based System (PBS) you can bring dependants to join you in the UK while you are studying at BU, provided that you meet certain conditions.

What is a dependant?

Dependants are close family members. They could be:

  • Your husband, wife or civil partner
  • Your unmarried partner
  • Your children.

Who can bring dependants to the UK while studying?

  • PhD students
  • Students studying a Master's degree that is more than 12 calendar months long.
  • Government sponsored students who are studying on any full time course that is longer than 6 calendar months.

Who is not entitled to bring dependants to the UK while studying?

  • Bachelor degree students who are not government sponsored.
  • Students studying a Master's degree that is less than 12 calendar months long.

Child dependants

If you want to bring your dependant-child to the UK, the immigration rules require that both parents stay in the UK with the child. This means that your husband/wife/partner must also come to the UK and cannot remain in your home country while you are here with the child.

The only exception to this is, if the other parent is not alive, or you have sole responsibility for your child’s upbringing. You will need to provide evidence of this with the PBS dependant visa application.

Visit our pages for further information about making a PBS Dependant visa application.

Further information

Arriving in the UK

Read about what to expect at immigration when you arrive in the UK and pre-enrolment checks when you arrive at BU.

Student PBS dependants

Information for Student visa holders who want to bring dependants to the UK under the Points-Based System (PBS).