Requesting a CAS

All new students who require a Student Visa, and are starting a new degree programme will need to request a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).

When requesting a CAS to study at SOAS, students will need to pay a CAS request deposit of £4,000. This payment will count towards your tuition fees for your programme of study and is non-refundable. For further details regarding the CAS deposit please refer to our deposit payment page. 

We are no longer issuing CAS for September 2024 entry

We recommend that you request your CAS as soon as possible after you become eligible, as visa application processing times can vary from country to country. You should submit your CAS request no later than 3 weeks before your start date. Any request for a CAS to be issued after the deadline will be at the discretion of SOAS and considered on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that holding an offer to study at SOAS does not mean that you are automatically eligible to receive a CAS. You must ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements which will be assessed on a case-by case basis.

To request a CAS you must be aware of the following:

• CAS request deadline: 3 September OR 3 weeks before the start of your course, whichever is earlier. i.e. if your course starts on 22 September 2025, the deadline to request your CAS is 3 September 2025.
• you must have firmly accepted your Unconditional offer for a full-time study programme (Please note, we do not sponsor student visas for part-time programmes)
• you will need to have paid the £4000 deposit which will be offset against your tuition fees
• if you are exempt from the CAS request deposit you will need to provide your full scholarship confirmation letter or financial guarantee letter from your sponsor
• you must have a valid passport that has at least six months beyond the programme start date remaining on the validity period
• do not request a CAS if you are going to renew your passport – wait until your new passport has been issued and then request a CAS with the new passport details

NB: CAS requests usually take 5 business days, but can take up to 10 business days to process during busier times or if there is missing information on your form.

If your CAS request submitted by the deadline is incomplete, it will not count as having applied for a CAS by the deadline. The issuance of a CAS is considered at the discretion of SOAS if your request becomes complete after the deadline. Your CAS request is regarded as incomplete in the following circumstances:

• your offer is still conditional
• your haven't firmly accepted your offer
• your haven't paid the CAS deposit or provided evidence of scholarship/sponsorship that meets the exemption criteria
• your haven't provided any further information that we requested

New students

Complete the CAS request form and upload the following supporting documents:

• colour scan of the identity details page of your passport (required)

If you have dual nationality, please consider fully which passport you want to use before the request is submitted, and only provide the passport that you will be travelling on and using for your visa application 

• evidence of your CAS request payment or exemption evidence (required)
• evidence of scholarship (if applicable) 
• evidence of additional tuition fee payments (if applicable)
• previous UK visas/Biometric Residence Permits or a share code for us to view your eVisa (if applicable) 
• parental consent form (only required for under 18 applicants)
• evidence of withdrawal and visa curtailment if you have withdrawn from any studies in the UK 

SOAS may request additional information following receipt of a CAS request form in order to assess CAS eligibility and provide correct information on a CAS.

You will be required to provide a highly likely to complete letter if:

• you are currently studying in the UK on a student visa 
• your course at SOAS starts before your current studies is considered complete
  (i.e. awarded)

A highly likely to complete letter should confirm that you will complete your current studies successfully, and can be requested from the exams department/registry of your current university. 

You will need to apply for your student visa outside the UK if you are not progressing academically, i.e., your new course is not at a higher level than your previous course or you haven't successfully completed the course of study in the UK (you have withdrawn from the course or you haven't been awarded the qualification due to failure in some modules) for which you were last granted a student visa.

Current/returning SOAS students

• CAS information for current/returning students.

• Requesting a CAS for pre-sessional English

We will issue a combined CAS for your degree programme and Pre-sessional English (PSE) programme if you hold an unconditional offer. This means you will only need to make one Student visa application to cover the full duration of your PSE programme and your degree programme at SOAS. To be eligible for a combined CAS you must meet all of the following:

• you have applied, been accepted and paid for the PSE
• your degree programme starts within one month of the end of your PSE
• you have received and accepted your offer for a degree programme at SOAS
• you have an Unconditional offer for a degree programme
• You have paid the £4000 CAS deposit

Note:  if you attend the Pre-sessional English programme voluntarily (i.e., you have met the English requirement for direct entry onto your degree programme but you still want to attend a Pre-sessional English programme), we will not issue you a combined CAS. 

For a combined CAS, your start date will be the start of your pre-sessional course. You must request your CAS no later than 3 weeks before the start of the PSE. 

If your offer is conditional pending an academic condition and your results will not be available until June or later, you will need to apply for two separate CAS numbers – one for the PSE and one for your degree programme. After you have met the academic conditions, we will issue a second CAS for your main programme of study. The International Student and Welfare Advisers at SOAS will be able to assist you with your visa extension.

To request a CAS for the PSE only, you will need to hold a UKVI secure English Language test (SELT) which will also need to be submitted as part of your student visa application. If your PSE offer was made based on a non-UKVI SELT, you will need to submit a new UKVI SELT that meets SOAS English language requirements. 

CAS eligibility criteria

Before SOAS can issue a CAS we need to confirm that the student:

• has the academic ability (including appropriate English language qualification) to study the proposed course
• is making academic progress (i.e. studying at a higher level than previous study), unless exempt
• confirms that they have the funds in place to study on their course
• demonstrates that they are a genuine student and have met all of UKVI's Student Route eligibility criteria
• will be studying on a full-time basis – SOAS does not support part-time study under the Student visa route
• plans to be physically present in the UK unless a UKVI concession applies or the absence is under 60 days during term time and is approved by SOAS

CAS validity

• A CAS number is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.
• You can only use the CAS number once. If your CAS expires or your Student visa application is refused and you want to reapply, you will need a new CAS. Please email the CAS issuance team to discuss your situation and they will determine whether a second CAS can be issued.