Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026

How to Apply for a UK Student Visa Online: Steps, Biometrics, the Healthcare Surcharge and Decision Times

NEW Published 30 October 2026

From the 6-month application window to the decision — the online form, the two ways to prove your identity, paying the £558 fee and the IHS, and what happens while you wait.

SECTION 01Before You Start: the Four Clocks

Four timings converge on the day you press submit, and GOV.UK states all four. Your CAS: you must apply within 6 months of receiving it. Your start date: from outside the UK you cannot apply earlier than 6 months before your course starts; from inside, no earlier than 3 months before — and inside applicants must apply before their current visa expires, with the new course beginning within 28 days of that expiry. Your money: 28 days held in a row, ending within 31 days of the application date. Your certificates: an ATAS certificate, where required, must already exist (it takes at least 30 working days), and a TB certificate, where required, must be within its 6-month validity. Read our documents checklist alongside this guide; the checklist is the "what", this guide is the "how".

SECTION 02The Online Form

You must apply online for a Student visa — there is no paper route on GOV.UK's pages for this route. You enter your CAS reference number on the application; without it, there is nothing to apply on. Once you have started your application, you can save the form and complete it later — a small mercy with a real use: start the form early to see your personal document instructions, then submit only when the money's 28 days and any certificates are complete. If you need to change something after you have sent the application, GOV.UK directs you to contact UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). You can also ask to withdraw your application by contacting UKVI — but your fee will only be refunded if UKVI has not started processing it.

SECTION 03Paying: the £558 Fee and the Healthcare Surcharge

The fee is £558 per person — for the student, and separately for each dependant. The immigration health surcharge (IHS) is paid as part of the application: £776 per year for students and their dependants, calculated on the length of the visa you will be given rather than the course alone — GOV.UK's part-year rules charge a full year for a visa of more than 6 months but less than one, and add a half year at the relevant thresholds for longer visas. You pay the IHS by debit or credit card, giving your course dates as a student; you receive an IHS reference number by email and on screen, and it can be used only once — reapplying means a new one.

Two IHS safety nets are worth knowing before you pay. If you do not pay, or do not pay enough, UKVI emails you how to pay — and you must pay within 10 working days if you are inside the UK, or 7 working days if you are outside, or the application will be turned down. And if your application is refused, you get a full IHS refund automatically, to the card or account you paid with; the visa application fee is the part that is gone.

SECTION 04Proving Your Identity: App or Visa Application Centre

As part of your application you will need to prove your identity. How you do this depends on where you are from and what type of passport you have, and you will be told what to do when you apply. The two routes GOV.UK describes are: use the "UK Immigration: ID Check" app to scan your identity document — you will also create or sign into your UKVI account — or have your fingerprints and photo (biometric information) taken at a visa application centre.

If you need an appointment: take your passport with you to the centre — you will be able to collect it on the day — and be ready to travel, because your nearest centre could be in another country. You may be able to pay to get your visa faster or use other optional services depending on which country you are in; GOV.UK directs you to check with the visa application centre, and it is the centre, not GOV.UK's Student pages, that sets those service prices — this guide prints none. Inside the UK, the equivalent service points are UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) points; biometrics there carry no fee, and documents can be uploaded into the online service or scanned at the appointment.

SECTION 05While You Wait: Decisions and Delays

GOV.UK's published decision times: usually within 3 weeks if you are outside the UK, and within 8 weeks if you are inside. You may be able to pay to get a faster decision — you will be told if you can when you apply. If your application is complex it will take longer, and you will be contacted: GOV.UK's examples are that your supporting documents need to be verified, or that you need to attend an interview, or because of your personal circumstances (its example: a criminal conviction).

Two rules govern the wait for inside-UK applicants. You can stay in the UK until you get your decision — including, if you applied for an administrative review after a refusal, until the review decision. And you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision: your application will be withdrawn if you do. Outside-UK applicants face no such stated restriction, but your passport and your plans should both assume the published 3 weeks is a "usually", not a promise.

SECTION 06After the Decision

If your application is successful, you get an eVisa — a digital record of your identity and immigration status. Your decision email or letter tells you how to get access to it, and you will need to create a UKVI account if you do not have one. There is no visa vignette decision to wait for in the post for the status itself, and no BRP to collect: eVisas have replaced physical immigration documents. Your next steps — linking your passport to your account, when you can travel, proving your status with a share code — are the subject of our arrival and eVisa guide. If your application is refused, the decision letter is the document that matters: it tells you whether you can ask for an administrative review, and our refusal guide covers the review, the deadlines and the refunds.

FAQFrequently Asked Questions

Official references and verification status

These official references were accessed and checked on 30 October 2026, and this guide's claims were verified against them (see the accompanying sources file). Two honest limits: GOV.UK's Student pages state that a faster decision may be payable but publish no priority prices, and visa application centres sell optional services on their own terms — no such price appears here; and decision times are published as "usually" — this guide does not convert them into guarantees.

• GOV.UK — Student visa (overview and full guide)
• GOV.UK — Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application
• GOV.UK — Student visa: Your partner and children

General educational information, not individualized legal or immigration advice. Follow the official GOV.UK instructions for your own situation, and consult a qualified UK immigration adviser regulated in the UK for advice about an individual case.

General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.