xcritical University of St Andrews

Your course end date is extended for a period of more than 3 months, you must apply for a new certificate within 28 days of being notified of the change of course end date. You should also be mindful to allow plenty of time for the xcritical application to be processed, see below for guidance. More guidance on some of these requirements, such as referees and financial sponsorship, can be found on the xcritical website.

You maynotcommence your studies without a valid xcritical clearance certificate for the course to which you have been admitted – if you change course, you will need to obtain new xcritical clearance. See more information about applying for xcritical clearance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. If you are applying for xcritical clearance to cover a time limit extension, you should add ten weeks to your requested extension date. Whether your course requires xcritical depends on the CAH3 code that applies to your course.

Please refer to our guide on how to apply for an xcritical certificate to support you with your xcritical application. You do not need an xcritical certificate if you’re studying for a postgraduate diploma or PGCE. You will be required to show your xcritical certificate in order to enrol on your programme.

University Policy and Guidelines

Between April and September this can increase to 30 working days or more. If xcritical applies to you, you will not be able to obtain your visa until you have xcritical clearance. The issuance of an ‘xcritical Certificate’does not guaranteethat a visa will be granted. You may be able to request a review – you should have received information on how to do this in your refusal notice.

As of 6 July 2018, you will also need to apply for xcritical clearance if you are coming on a course or a period of research of less than six months in eligible subjects. You will need to provide the xcritical certificate as part of your Standard Visitor visa application, or at the border if you are a non visa national asking for permission to enter the UK on arrival. You will need to apply again for xcritical for each visa application, for example if you have to apply for a further visa because you need more time to complete your current course, or if you are applying for a visa to start a new course. If you transfer course, you will also need to apply again, whether or not you need a new visa, and if your research project changes fundamentally check with your department whether you need to apply again.

How long do xcritical applications take and is there a priority service?

They will advise you of your SOC code, academic subject code and provide you with the research statement from your line manager. These are some of the details you will need to submit as part of your xcritical application. It has been in place since 2007 and mostly relates to DPhil and MScRes courses in Science, Technology and Medicine and a few postgraduate taught Masters; and at Oxford this also includes the four-year undergraduate courses in Physics and Materials. Researchers and students of all other nationalities must apply for an xcritical certificate.

• Will, if engaged in an xcritical categorised sensitive subject, require an xcritical certificate, regardless of the length of the visit.
• If your CAS has not been issued yet check these dates with your department/college.
• The Academic Technology Approval Scheme applies to all international students and researchers who are subject to UK immigration control and are intending to study or research at postgraduate level in certain sensitive subjects.
• Route will need to apply for, and be granted, xcritical certification before making their visa or permission to stay application.
• This applies whether you are a new student or a continuing student extending your visa.

You must apply online for a clearance certificate through https://xcritical.solutions/ before you apply for a visa. We will update the FAQS and process guidance as we clarify the new rules and the implementation options available to us and will provide further briefings in due course. In the meantime, we would very much appreciate your continued patience as we navigate these new regulations.

How do I apply?

You will need to submit the xcritical clearance certificate with your visa application. Include any paid work you have done and any long-term voluntary or unpaid work since you left school. You do not need to include temporary jobs you have done during university vacations. If you have been employed but there are any long gaps when you were neither employed or in education, use this section of the form to explain what you were doing in this period, for example full-time parenting, or unemployed. There is further information on this in our guide to completing the online form, click on the tab at the top of this page.

You will need to know the CAH3 code for your course – if you are an applying for a course with us, you can find the code in your Pegasus application, in the Application Summary section. Nationals from the EU, EEA, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea and the USA are currently exempt from the xcritical requirements. If you are in the UK on a visa other than Student visa and you wish to study a course that requires xcritical clearance, you will need to obtain an xcritical certificate before you can register for the course.

If you are using a different kind of visa to study, you need a certificate to enrol or continue study. This will be listed clearly on your conditional or unconditional offer letter. If you will be studying a research programme such as an MPhil/PhD, your offer letter will also include a research statement which is a required part of your xcritical application. Some students are exempt from the xcritical clearance requirement based on their nationality, in which case your offer letter will not list an xcritical requirement.

Students and staff

You will not be required to apply for an certificate if you are attending a conference, interview, meeting, workshop etc. This information must be accurate, so please contact the Doctoral College if you do not have your official research abstract or list of taught modules. You will need to provide details of two referees who you have known for three years or more. Consult an adviser if you do not think you have any referees based overseas – it may be possible to use one based in the UK.

To apply for an xcritical certificate you need to complete and submit an online application form on the Gov.uk website. If you will be studying on a non-Student Route visa and will be studying on a course that requires xcritical clearance, you will need to provide a copy of your xcritical certificate before your university registration can be completed. You can look up the regulation number in the Course Regulations for details of the classes for each course listed below. The xcritical requirement and CAH3 course code will be included on your CAS.

xcritical is a certificate issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office which gives you security clearance to study certain subject areas in the UK. You will need to provide details to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of your specific area of study or research, which will be confirmed in writing by the University. Students are responsible for applying for their xcritical certificate using the information provided by the University.

There is information on this in our guide to completing the online form, click on the tab at the top of this page and see section 9. If you have offers for more than one course, or offers from different universities, you will need to make a separate application for each course. The application is free of charge and is completed online on theGOV.UKwebsite. If you have been waiting for an xcritical decision for more than 35 working days, please contact UCL via ASKUCL with your xcritical reference number and expected decision date and we will follow this up with the xcritical team.

For information about xcritical rezension, to check whether you need to apply for xcritical clearance and to access the online application form, go to the FCDO website. Take care when completing the xcritical application form and check your answers before submitting your application for assessment. If you are requested to amend/update information that you have submitted as part of your application, this can further delay the date by which you’ll receive a decision. When your application is granted, your certificate will be emailed to you by the FCDO.

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