Getting your CAS
When the University issues you with an unconditional offer, and you choose Birmingham City University, you must obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance for Study (CAS) letter to apply for a Student visa. So that we can confirm your eligibility for a CAS, you will be asked to complete a Pre-CAS Questionnaire. You will be sent a unique link to complete the questionnaire in a system called CAS Shield.
To receive a CAS, the essential requirements are:
- Pass a credibility interview (specific regions only). If you are from Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Iran, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia or Sri Lanka, you will be allocated a place in our automated pre-CAS interview process.
Where a credibility interview is required, you will be asked to pay an initial deposit. The deposit is equivalent to 50% of your tuition fee if you are applying from Punjab and Haryana, or £1,000 if you are applying from other countries or regions.
- Once you pass your pre-CAS interview, or once you have met your offer conditions if you are from a region not requiring an interview, you will need to upload your essential documents shown in your CAS Shield account. A deposit will be payable before we are able to issue your CAS.
If you are applying from Bangladesh, Pakistan or the Punjab and Haryana regions of India, you will be required to pay your full gross tuition fee (minus your initial deposit of £1,000). If you are applying from other countries or regions, you will need to pay 50% of your gross tuition fee (minus your initial deposit of £1,000).
- We advise you to pay through Flywire, our fastest payment method and payments via direct bank transfer is not advised. Payments made via direct bank transfer may mean you face substantial delays, which may impact CAS issuance.
- You must complete all sections on CAS Shield. Please visit our dedicated CAS Shield page for information on how to complete this.
- You must meet all requirements set out in the BCU CAS issuing policy.
Once your deposit payment has been confirmed and all relevant documents received and approved, we will process your CAS.
Getting an unconditional offer is not a guarantee that you will get a CAS. Birmingham City University is legally obligated to assess your eligibility for a CAS number regardless of an unconditional offer. We must assess factors such as an applicant's previous immigration history in the UK, including visa refusals, and how long someone has already spent studying in the UK.