Late Arrivals - International Students

All students are expected to arrive in Swansea in time for the welcome activities and start date for their course (as detailed on their CAS).

However, for many students*, if there is a short delay, and you are able to travel and fully enrol by Monday 13th October 2025, you do not need to complete a late arrival application and you can assume late permission to Monday 13th October 2025 has been granted. It is your responsibility to make every effort to arrive and enrol by that later date.

*IMPORTANT: Some courses either have latest arrival/enrolment dates that are earlier than Monday 13^th October 25 or students on those courses are unable to apply for any further arrival/enrolment time beyond Monday 13^th October 25. Please check the following list to see if your course is inlcuded:

Course List

If so, you will need to take note of the listed latest arrival/enrolment date you need to work to. Students who are due to study courses on this list cannot make an application for late arrival beyond the date listed next to their course and should follow the Timeline below based on that latest date.

Students who attempt to travel and enrol beyond stated latest dates should expect to be refused enrolment. They would need to take full responsibility for any financial or emotional distress caused by choosing to undertake that action against University advice.

How to request permission to arrive and enrol late

If your course is not in the list above, and you know that you will arrive after the automatically permissible arrival date of Monday 13th October 2025, please see the following advice for what to do next:

Complete the Permission to arrive-enrol late form and return it to Hwb via ServiceNow. Once you have received your University login credentials, you will be able to access Service Now and your Student Email (outlook). Both of these systems are really important if you'll be arriving late:

You will use ServiceNow to submit your official request for Late Arrival using the form and link above.
You will receive a decision from your Late Arrival Request to your Student Email (outlook).

Guidance on accessing your University IT Account & Email can be found here

Note: In order to avoid financial and emotional distress, students should not travel to the UK after Monday 13th October until they have received confirmation of any new latest enrolment date from their Faculty/School Student Support Team.

2. If a later arrival is possible, your Faculty will confirm a new arrival and enrolment date.

If you do not enrol by the new deadline given to you by your Faculty, as per legal requirements, the University will take steps to notify the UKVI that your UK immigration sponsorship has been withdrawn from that date. Withdrawal of sponsorship will usually result in any in-process visa applications being refused and/or entry to the UK being denied at the Border. Any visa issued, due to the timings, will subsequently be cancelled by the UKVI. Please be aware of this.

Timeline

You should ensure that you are aware of the timeline below and that these could change based on any permitted changes to your latest enrolment date.

Timeline	Action
7 days before your latest enrolment date	If you are still waiting for an outcome on your visa application, you should consider withdrawing your visa application. Please read the section below on withdrawing your visa application carefully.
7 days before your latest enrolment date	If you believe you are going to be able to meet your last enrolment date, pay your fees at this point to prevent risk of non-enrolment. Please see the following information for How to Pay Your Fees
Weekend before your latest enrolment date	You should be travelling to the UK at this point at the very latest. If you cannot travel by this time, you should not travel. Please see the travel and accommodation section below.

Withdrawing your visa application

If your Faculty Student Support Team confirms that it is too late for you to enrol on your course, it is very important that you take action as quickly as possible to withdraw your visa application if you are still awaiting a visa application decision. This should trigger at least a partial refund of any fees paid as part of the visa application process. This is very easy to do from inside your UKVI account but it can take 5-7 working days for UKVI to process a withdrawal request so it is important that you act quickly or your visa may be issued but you won’t be able to use it to enrol on the course. The process and guidance for doing this can be found on the UK Government website here: Cancel your visa, immigration or citizenship application: Cancel your application - GOV.UK. Keep any evidence of the withdrawal request for your records.

As legally required, Swansea University will take steps to notify the UKVI that you are not able to enrol on your course. The University will withdraw its sponsorship and/or will take steps to withdraw the CAS that has been issued to you. Withdrawal of sponsorship will usually result in any in any pending visa applications being refused and/or entry to the UK being denied at the Border. Any visa that has already been issue will subsequently be cancelled by the UKVI and cannot be used for any later course intakes. Please be aware of this.

Travel and Accommodation

This Guide below contains useful information to help you plan your journey from your Port of Entry (airport, major city etc) to Swansea and the University itself.

It also has very comprehensive information on looking for short, and longer term, accommodation plus additional concerns such as contracts, furnishings and finances.

The Guide can be used either pre-arrival or once you have arrived in the UK (or even for sending to friends and family who may be planning a visit).

UK Travel and Accommodation: An International Students' Guide

Deferring/suspending your course

New students: if you cannot enrol, you can request to defer your course start date to a later intake. Please contact the relevant Admissions team:

Undergraduate Courses: Admissions@swansea.ac.uk

Postgraduate Courses:  Postgraduate.Admissions@swansea.ac.uk

A new CAS and visa application submitted from overseas would be required for any future intakes.

Continuing students: Email your Faculty/School Student Support Team to request to suspend your studies if you cannot enrol. This will mean that you can return at the next available start of session.

Refunds

Please visit the Refunds Policy page for information about tuition fee refunds.

Appeals

 If permission for late arrival is refused in accordance with in accordance with undergraduate regulation 4 or postgraduate regulation 4, you may, within 10 days of the decision, submit a review. Please read the Administrative Review Process before submitting your review. To submit your review please complete the following form Admin Review Form / Cais am Adolygad Gweinyddol and email it to the Associate Director of Student Operations, Education Services.