Overview
The maximum duration of this visa category is 12 months, and everyone who wishes to apply under this category must have been granted a visa before they travel the UK regardless of their visit duration or nationality.
Additional eligibility requirements
In addition to the eligibility requirements for all Standard Visitors, academic category visitors must also:
- have a formal letter of invitation from the host department/institution; and
- be highly qualified within their own field of expertise; and
- be currently be working in that field at an academic institution or institution of higher education overseas, and remain so for the duration of their visit.
Current overseas students do not qualify as academic for the purpose of this visa category.
Permitted activities
A very narrow range of activities can be undertaken on a Standard Visitor visa (academic category), and these depend on the duration of the visit:
Visits lasting 6 months or less:
- Take part in formal exchange arrangements with UK counterparts (including doctors);
- Collaborate, gather information and facts, or conduct research, either for a specific project which directly relates to their employment overseas, or independently;
- if they are an eminent senior doctor or dentist, take part in research, teaching or clinical practice, provided this does not amount to filling a permanent teaching post.
Visits lasting more than 6 months, up to 12 months:
- Take part in formal exchange arrangements with UK counterparts (including doctors);
- Carry out research for their own purposes, if they are on sabbatical leave from their home institution;
- If they are an eminent senior doctor or dentist, take part in research, teaching or clinical practice, provided this does not amount to filling a permanent teaching post.
Not permitted
Certain activities are prohibited for Standard Visitor (academic category) visitors:
- Receiving funding from any UK source (except as below);
- Working, being employed or self-employed, running a business or doing a work placement or internship;
- Filling a normal post or a genuine vacancy;
- Be entering to study for an academic qualification (study visa required);
- Accessing medical treatment, other than private medical treatment;
- Getting married or forming a civil partnership;
- Extending the visa or switching in the UK to another visa route;
- Having recourse to public funds;
- Carrying out collaborative research with UK colleagues if visiting for more than 6 months.
Acceptable Payments
The individual must not receive payment from a UK source for any activities undertaken in the UK, except for reasonable expenses to cover the cost of their travel and subsistence, including fees for directors attending board-level meetings.
A visitor’s travel, maintenance and accommodation may be provided by a third party (which can be the University) provided:
- They have a genuine professional or personal relationship with the visitor; and
- They are legally present in the UK, or will be at the time of the visitor’s entry to the UK; and
- They can and will provide support to the visitor for the intended duration of their stay
Dependants
Family members are permitted to accompany visitors, and should apply for a Standard Visitor visa (academic category) even if they are not coming to the UK as an academic. Dependants are not permitted to work in the UK.
Children may be enrolled at a fee-paying school or, if the adult they are accompanying has been granted an Standard Visitor visa (academic category) before they travel to the UK (regardless of whether or not they were required to do so by their nationality or the duration of their visit), their children may attend state school in the UK. Responsibility for deciding whether to admit a child to a school rests with the school’s admission authority, which is the local authority in the case of a community or voluntary controlled school, or the school’s governing body in the case of voluntary aided or foundation school. Please see the University Childcare Office's website for more information.