UK Student Visa Process from Nepal

The uk student visa process from Nepal has ten steps. Two of them happen on the Nepal side and are easy to overlook until they hold everything up.

1. Shortlist University and Course. Select the appropriate university and course. Your university must be a licensed student sponsor. If it is not on the Home Office register, no visa is possible, regardless of how good the offer looks.
2. Submit Application to the University. Apply directly to the university or through UCAS where applicable. Undergraduate applications commonly use UCAS, although some universities and courses accept direct applications.
3. University Interview (If Required). Some universities conduct an interview before issuing an offer. This is a university-level assessment and should not be confused with a UKVI credibility interview. (interview/offer)
4. Receive Conditional or Unconditional Offer. A university may issue a conditional offer requiring items such as academic results, English-language evidence, document verification, or other conditions. Once the required conditions are satisfied, the offer may become unconditional.
5. Genuine Student Requirement. Applicants must satisfy the Genuine Student requirement. Students should be prepared to explain their chosen course, university, academic background, career plans, funding arrangements, and reasons for studying in the UK. Do not state that every student must promise to return to Nepal; the requirement is to demonstrate genuine student intentions.
6. Complete TB Test. Applicants from Nepal who are required to provide a tuberculosis certificate must use a Home Office-approved clinic. Bring the required passport/identification documents, photographs if requested, and the applicable fee. Book early during busy application periods.
7. Additional University Interview (If Required). Some universities may conduct an additional credibility, compliance, or pre-CAS interview after the offer. This is university-specific and is not a mandatory step for every applicant.
8. Accept Offer and Pay Required Tuition Deposit. Accept the offer according to the university's instructions and pay the tuition deposit or other required amount. Deposit amounts vary by university and are not fixed by UKVI. Payment does not automatically guarantee CAS issuance.
9. Obtain CAS. The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is an electronic reference issued by the licensed Student sponsor. It contains key course and fee information and is required for the Student Visa application.
10. Apply for your MoEST No Objection Certificate. This is issued by Nepal's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology through noc.moest.gov.np. Without it, a Nepali bank will not legally remit your tuition fees.
11. Prepare Financial Evidence. Where financial evidence is required, ensure the required funds are held in an eligible account and satisfy UKVI's. Specified holding-period and evidence rules. The required amount can include outstanding tuition fees plus living costs.
12. Maintenance Funds (Current Figures). For applications subject to the current maintenance requirement, the monthly amount is £1,529 for London and £1,171 outside London, for up to 9 months. This gives maximum maintenance figures of £13,761 in London and £10,539 outside London, before adding any applicable outstanding tuition fees.
13. Complete the online visa application. Pay the £558 application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge of £776 for each year of your visa. Both must be paid before you can submit.
14. Pay Visa Application Fee and Immigration Health Surcharge. The Student Visa application fee is currently £558. The student Immigration Health Surcharge rate is currently £776 per year. The actual IHS payable is calculated according to the length of immigration permission and applicable rules, so it should not be calculated simply as £776 multiplied by the course duration.
15. Attend your biometrics appointment. Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at the visa application center in Kathmandu.
16. Wait for the decision. Applications from outside the UK are usually decided within three weeks. A priority service is sometimes available for an extra fee.
17. Set up your UKVI account and access your eVisa. Your visa is now a digital record rather than a sticker. You will need to link your passport to your UKVI account before you travel.
18. Travel to the UK. After confirming the visa/eVisa status and travel conditions, make travel arrangements and carry relevant documents and evidence needed for entry and university enrolment.

When to apply

The earliest you can submit a visa application from outside the UK is six months before your course start date. Work backwards from your intake.

Note that the TB clinic bottleneck and the 28-day funds window overlap in the same months for September applicants. Starting the financial preparation in April rather than June removes most of the pressure.

Travelling to the UK

If your course runs longer than six months, you can arrive up to one month before it starts. For courses of six months or less, the window is one week. You must never travel before the start date printed on your visa, no matter when your course actually begins.

Working during and after your studies

Student visa holders may be able to work, and how much depends on your course level and whether it is term time or vacation.

You cannot be self-employed, and you cannot work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach.

After you finish, the Graduate Route lets you stay without a job offer or sponsor. The duration depends on when you apply:

• Apply on or before 31 December 2026: two years
• Apply on or after 1 January 2027: eighteen months
• PhD or other doctoral qualification: three years

We say this plainly to every student we counsel that a UK degree does not guarantee you a job, and it does not guarantee settlement. It gives you a recognized qualification and a defined window to compete for work. What you do with that window is up to you.

Why Nepali student visa applications get refused

Most refusals are avoidable and most of them are financial. In our experience the recurring causes are:

• Funds held for fewer than 28 consecutive days, or the balance dipping mid-window
• Bank statements dated more than 31 days before the application date
• Money held in an account type that does not qualify, such as shares or a fixed deposit with no immediate access
• A sponsor's account used without the required signed consent letter
• A TB certificate that has passed its six-month validity by the time of application
• English evidence that does not actually meet CEFR B2 for a degree-level course
• Name spellings that do not match between passport, academic documents and CAS
• Missing the MoEST NOC, which stalls the fee remittance and the whole timeline

Study in UK from Nepal Requirements

The requirements fall into four groups: academic, English language, financial and medical. The Home Office sets the visa rules. Your university sets the academic bar. People often confuse the two, which leads to a lot of bad advice.

Academic requirements

UK Visas and Immigration does not set a minimum GPA or percentage. There is no visa rule saying you need 55 percent or 65 percent in +2. That figure comes from individual universities, and it varies widely between them.

What the visa does require is an offer of a place on a course from a licensed student sponsor. Your university handles that side. Typical entry routes for Nepali students look like this:

• Bachelor's degree: completed +2, A Levels or an equivalent qualification.
• Master's degree: a recognised Bachelor's degree. Three-year and four-year Nepali Bachelor's degrees are both accepted by many UK universities, though requirements differ.
• Foundation or pre-Master's: a bridging option if your grades or subject background do not meet direct entry. These add time and cost, so treat them as a considered choice, not a default.

English language requirements

For a course at degree level or above, you must prove English to a level equivalent to CEFR B2. For a course below degree level, the level is CEFR B1. There are three legitimate ways to meet this.

1. Take a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider, such as IELTS for UKVI or PTE Academic UKVI. This is the standard route for most Nepali applicants.
2. Let your university assess you. If you are studying at degree level or above, a Higher Education Provider is allowed to assess your English itself. This is why some universities set their own internal test. It must still be equivalent to CEFR B2.
3. Use an existing degree taught in English. If your degree was taught in English but was not awarded by a UK institution, you need an assessment from Ecctis. They issue a code confirming your qualification is equivalent to a UK Bachelor's or higher and was taught in English.

A common misunderstanding. A plain Medium of Instruction letter from your Nepali college is not, by itself, a UKVI-recognised way to prove English. Some universities accept an MOI letter for their own admission decision. That is a university decision, not a visa waiver. If your English evidence has to satisfy the Home Office directly, you need a SELT or an Ecctis assessment.

Financial requirements

You must show enough money for two things: your course fees for one academic year, and your living costs. The course fee amount is the figure printed on your CAS.

Living cost requirements were increased on 31 December 2025. These are the current figures:

London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs.

The 28-day rule, explained properly. You must hold the money for 28 days in a row. The 28 days are counted backwards from the closing balance on the most recent statement you submit. Your evidence must be dated no more than 31 days before the date you apply. If the balance drops below the required amount on any single day in that window, the clock restarts.

You can use your own account, your parent's account with a signed letter of consent, a government or regulated student loan, or official financial sponsorship. You cannot use overdrafts, cryptocurrency, stocks and shares, or pensions. The account must be regulated by the financial regulator in the country where the bank operates, must use electronic record keeping, and must allow you immediate access to the money.

Two things Nepali applicants specifically need to know.

First, Nepal is not on the UKVI differential evidence list. Applicants from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand can submit their application without financial evidence upfront. Nepali applicants cannot. Your financial documents have to be complete and correct at the point of submission.

Second, be careful with any website publishing a list of "UKVI-approved banks in Nepal". The Home Office does not publish such a list for Nepal. What matters is whether the account meets the conditions above, not whether a bank appears on somebody's blog post.

Medical requirement: the TB test

If you have lived in Nepal for six months or more and you are coming to the UK for six months or more, a tuberculosis test is mandatory. The test is a chest x-ray. If it is clear, you receive a certificate that is valid for six months from the date of the x-ray.

The test must be done at a clinic approved by the Home Office. A certificate from any other clinic will be rejected. There are three approved clinics in Nepal, including one outside the Kathmandu Valley:

Children under 11 pay a reduced fee, and a certificate reissue costs extra. Female applicants aged 12 to 54 may be asked to take a urine pregnancy test for a small additional charge.

Book early. You can usually get an appointment within a few days. During the UK student visa peak season from June to October, the wait can stretch to ten days. That is exactly when most September-intake applicants need it. You can find the official clinic list on GOV.UK.

Documents you will need

• Valid passport
• Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from your university
• Academic transcripts and certificates
• English language evidence: SELT certificate, Ecctis code, or university assessment
• Financial evidence covering the full 28-day period
• Sponsor consent letter, if you are using a parent's account
• Loan sanction letter and supporting statements, if you are loan funded
• TB test certificate from an approved clinic
• MoEST No Objection Certificate
• ATAS certificate, if your course requires one
• Parental consent, if you are 16 or 17

Bringing your husband, wife or children

This has changed and it disappoints a lot of applicants, so it is worth being direct. You can only bring dependants if you are one of the following:

• a full-time student on a PhD, another doctorate, or a research-based higher degree
• a government-sponsored student on a course lasting longer than six months

If you are coming for a taught one-year Master's, you cannot bring a spouse or children on your Student visa. Any consultancy telling you otherwise is either out of date or not being straight with you.