Step 1: The CAS Letter

To apply for a Child Student Visa, you will first need the CAS letter (Confirmation of Acceptance to Study) from the school. For the school to issue this, the following documents are required:

• A copy of your child’s passport
• A copy of the birth certificate with a certified English translation or an international birth certificate
• A signed parental consent form (Parental Letter of Consent to Apply for Child Student Visa)
• A signed guardian’s undertaking (Letter of Undertaking)

Step 2: Create an account

Create a Visa account at:

https://www.gov.uk/child-study-visa/apply and follow the instructions.

• Use your child’s passport and date of birth to create the account
• It is best to provide your (parent’s) email address and mobile number as contact details, so you can check at any time whether the visa has been granted.

We have described all the steps in detail here once again

Step 3: ID Check

Download the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app onto your mobile phone. Use the app to link the visa application to your child’s passport (the visa will be stored on the biometric chip in the passport). Your child must be present for this step, as the app compares the passport photo with your child’s face.

• You can use any mobile phone; no data is stored on the phone.
• To scan the biometric chip, the mobile phone must be placed on top of the passport. You may need to try a few times to ensure it works properly. (Tip: It’s best to remove the phone from its case.)

Step 4: Questionnaire

Please note that completing the online questionnaire will take some time (approx. 50–70 minutes). The questionnaire consists of several sections. You cannot proceed to the next section until you have answered all the questions in the previous section.

• Personal details // Family and relationships // Parents' and legal guardians' responsibilities // Living arrangements // Your travel plans // Travel history // Criminal record // Study details //
• Further information

All the questions you need to answer in the online form can be found here in the Visa Questionnaire. Here you will find a guide to completing the questions on ‘Living Arrangements’, which also covers the topic of guardianship in the visa application.

Step 5. IHS and Visa Fees

At the end of the visa application, you will be asked to answer questions regarding the ‘International Health Surcharge – IHS’ (UK health insurance).

Payment is then made in two stages:

Stage 1: IHS fee. Depending on the length of your child’s stay or course:

• one year: £1.164
• Two years:  £1.940 

Step 2: Visa fee: The visa always costs £558 per application, regardless of the course duration.

The fees are usually quoted directly in euros.

Step 6. Upload documents

You will now be redirected back to the online form, where you will be asked to upload certain documents under ‘Provide Evidence’. These are:

• Your child’s translated or international birth certificate
• The parents’ letter of consent (Parental Letter of Consent to Apply for a Child Student Visa)
• The guardian’s letter of undertaking (Letter of Undertaking)

Once you have done this, you have successfully completed the visa application! Approval usually takes a few days, but it can take up to three weeks (and even longer in July and August). Please check your emails regularly, including your spam folder, as emails from the Immigration Service very often end up in spam/junk. The sender is always ‘home.office.atlas@notifications.service.gov.uk’ and the subject line is always ‘Application Update’. You may also want to search your email inbox for these terms from time to time.