The University of York acts as immigration sponsor for Student Visa holders during their studies. If a sponsored international student’s studies are interrupted for personal or academic reasons, the University is normally required to withdraw its sponsorship and report this to the Home Office and the student is required to leave the UK.
There are limited circumstances in which the University will not withdraw its sponsorship of a student’s visa during a period of authorised absence. In these instances students are able to remain in the UK. An authorised absence requires approval whether the student is remaining in the UK or travelling outside the UK:
Absence of 7 calendar days or fewer |
Sponsorship will not be withdrawn provided that the student:
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Absence of up to 30 calendar days |
Sponsorship will not be withdrawn provided that the student:
Absence to be requested via e:Vision |
Absence of between 31 and 60 calendar days |
Sponsorship will not be withdrawn provided that the postgraduate research student:
Absence to be requested via e:Vision |
Absence of more than 60 calendar days |
The University will withdraw sponsorship and the student will need to leave the UK and apply for a new visa to re-enter the UK when ready to resume their studies. This will need to be processed as a formal Leave of Absence. Further information on this can be found here
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Read the full guidance
The information presented here is correct as of April 2016 and may be subject to change at any time, dependent on UKVI regulation and policy.
Annual leave from the University (Postgraduate Research Students only)
A 30 working day annual leave entitlement can be used at any point in the year with approval from your supervisor. For postgraduate research students, there is only one Semester. The annual leave year runs from 1 August to 31 July for all postgraduate research students. These dates coincide with the academic year. Our semester dates page features further information on the academic year structure for PGR students.
Leave for Christmas or Easter should be taken from the 30-day annual leave allocation. Public holidays, such as Christmas Day and Easter Monday, and weekends will not count towards this entitlement. All annual leave must be agreed in advance and requested via e:Vision or via a paper form if the request is for less than 7 days. Please contact student-visa@york.ac.uk if you require a paper annual leave request form.
Absences from the University for Research Purposes
Please note that these requests can only be made by postgraduate taught students during their ISM/dissertation period, or postgraduate research students.
Student Visa holders are required to reside within a reasonable distance of the University of York and to attend all instruction of study at the University of York campus unless prior approval has been made for students to temporarily change their study location in order to collect data, research or attend field trips which directly contribute to their studies.
This applies to all changes of study location over three working days.
This type of absence should not be requested by students who want to return home and study online.
The University of York will continue to sponsor Student Visa holders during this time but are required to report a change of study location to the UKVI. This should be agreed in advance and requested via e:Vision.
Leaving the UK prior to the end of your studies - Postgraduate Research students
Student Visa holders are required to reside within a reasonable distance of the University of York and to attend all instruction of study at the University of York campus unless prior approval has been made.
Please note this includes the Continuation period, if a Student Visa holder leaves the UK prior to the end of their writing up and does not plan to return the Visa Compliance Team will report the departure to the UKVI and withdraw sponsorship.
If a student requests to leave the UK during this period they must complete the below form and adhere to the following conditions:
Early departure should be requested via e:Vision.
Leaving the UK prior to the end of your studies - Postgraduate Taught students
Student Visa holders are required to reside within a reasonable distance of the University of York and to attend all instruction of study at the University of York campus unless prior approval has been made.
Please note this includes the Independent Study Module (ISM) period, if a Student Visa holder leaves the UK prior to the end of the ISM period and does not plan to return the Visa Compliance Team will report the departure to the UKVI and withdraw sponsorship.
If a student requests to leave the UK during this period they must complete the below form and adhere to the following conditions:
Please note that if you leave the UK (or are overseas when sponsorship is withdrawn) you will not be able to re-enter the UK unless you have obtained new entry clearance, this includes for Graduation.
Early departure and ISM at distance to be requested via e:Vision.
Leaving the UK prior to the end of your studies - Undergraduate students
Student Visa holders are required to reside within a reasonable distance of the University of York and to attend all instruction of study at the University of York campus unless prior approval has been made.
An undergraduate student, returning next academic year, must remain in York until the end Semester 2. They are not permitted to leave early.
Students at the end of their programme of study (Finalists)
The University has an obligation to report any Undergraduate finalist student leaving more than 2 weeks before the end of Semester 2 to the UKVI, this will be done within 10 days of their departure and the remaining leave to remain reduced by this period.
Early departure to be requested via e:Vision.
To cancel a current request please contact student-visa@york.ac.uk and include your department or supervisor.
In order to extend your absence, please contact student-visa@york.ac.uk.
If you need to leave the UK in an emergency, please email student-visa@york.ac.uk and copy in your department and / or supervisor indicating how long you expect to be absent. You will then be advised what further steps need to be taken.
Should you wish to amend your absence, please email student-visa@york.ac.uk and include your department or supervisor with the correct dates. Please note, any approval given is only for the dates originally booked until you have received further confirmation.
To confirm the amount of days you have remaining please contact either your department / supervisor who can confirm or email student-visa@york.ac.uk.
Who to contact:
- Immigration Advice Service
Student Hub, Market Square
Tel: +44 (0)1904 324140
Please complete our referral form, available on our immigration advice page.
Office hours
During semester time:
9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday
10am to 5pm Friday
Outside of semester time:
10am to 4pm Monday to Friday
- Visa Compliance Team
To contact the team:Tel: +44 (0)1904 328025 available from 10am-4pm
Email: student-visa@york.ac.uk
Office hours
Semester time: Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 10am-4pm
Outside of Semester time: 10am-4pm