What is the Right to Study and why do I need to do it?

If you applied for your current Student visa from outside of the UK and don't have a digital status, you'll have an entry clearance vignette in your passport.
 

For the Right to Study check, you'll need to provide the following documents:

1. A copy of your valid passport
2. A copy of your Vignette
3. Proof of entry to the UK. You can do this by:
   • Uploading a copy of your vignette with the entry stamp on it, or
   • If you are eligible to use the e-gates and that is how you entered the UK, a copy of your flight ticket/boarding pass, which shows us the date you entered.

If you hold a visa that allows study, have applied for your next student visa from inside of the UK and don't have a digital status, you'll need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport
  
  and
   
• A government share code (the code should begin with the letter 'S'; if it doesn't, you'll need to get a new one from the government's webpage)
• If you've applied for your visa inside of the UK but haven't yet received a decision, you can provide proof of your submitted application. For example, we can accept a copy of your Student visa application cover sheet confirming a submitted application and fee payment to UKVI.

Once you've received a copy of your new visa, you must email a scanned copy of it to visa-reg@kcl.ac.uk.

Important to know: If you're currently in the UK holding a Graduate Route visa, you'll need to have received your new Student visa to be eligible to enrol.

An eVisa is your visa status that you can viewable online using a UKVI account, and it's replacing physical visa documents like Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs). If you provide your biometrics at a visa application centre overseas after 31 October 2024, you'll receive a 90-day vignette instead of a BRP.

While the 90-day vignette will allow you to travel to the UK, you must create a UKVI account. This account will enable you to access your eVisa and verify your immigration status in the UK. Please visit the UK government's eVisa webpage to create your account. You don’t need to pay a fee or submit a new visa application to do this.

Once you create your UKVI account and link it to your eVisa, you can view your eVisa by logging into your UKVI account through the UK government's view and prove webpage.

To learn more about the process of creating a UKVI account and accessing your eVisa, you can watch this guidance video.

If you applied for your current student visa from outside of the UK and have a digital status, you will need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport  
• A government share code* (The code should begin with the letter 'S'. if it does not, you will need to obtain a new one from the GOV.UK webpages.
• Proof of entry to the UK - you need to provide a copy of your flight ticket/boarding pass, which shows us the date you entered the UK.

*Share codes are only valid for 90 days, so if you have obtained one more than 90 days ago, you will need to request a new one. You can request a share code on the GOV.UK webpages.

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If you applied for your current student visa from inside of the UK and have a digital status, you will need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport  
• A government share code* (The code should begin with the letter 'S'. if it does not you will need to obtain a new one from the GOV.UK webpages.

*Share codes are only valid for 90 days, so if you have obtained one more than 90 days ago, you will need to request a new one. You can request a share code on the GOV.UK webpages.

Important to know: You may have both a digital status and a BRP. You only need to provide us with either a share code or your BRP.
 

If you are a Visa National* (i.e. you need to apply and be granted a visa prior to travelling to the UK as a visitor), your Visitor Visa will take the form of a vignette in your passport and you will need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport
• A copy of your vignette
• A copy of the entry stamp from the border officer.

For a list of Visa Nationals, please refer to the 'Visitor Visa' nationals list on the Gov.uk webpages.

If you did not need to apply for a visa before coming to the UK but you need to see the border officer when you arrive, you will need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport  
• A copy of your entry stamp

For those coming to the UK for up to 6 months, who don't need to apply for a visa in advance of coming to the UK and are eligible to use the e-gates, you're still entering the UK under the 'visitor route'.

This means that when you pass through the e-gates, you're entering the UK on the Standard Visitor Visa. You won't have a stamp or a visa in your passport. If this applies to you, you will need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:

• A copy of your valid passport  
• Proof of entry to the UK. You can provide a copy of your flight ticket/boarding pass/Eurostar ticket, to evidence the date that you entered the UK.​​​​​
• An Electronic Visa Waiver or Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)

If you applied and were granted the Electronic Visa Waiver, you'll need to provide the following documents for the Right to Study check:
•    A copy of your valid passport  
•    A copy of your entry stamp

If you're in the UK under a different immigration route (including those who hold Indefinite Leave to Remain), you're still required to complete the Right to Study check.  You'll need to provide us with a valid passport and a copy of your current immigration status.

Under our legal obligations under the UKVI, we must check all non-British/Irish nationals immigration permissions before we can invite them to complete enrolment.