Issues affecting your visa

You must collect your BRP before the vignette sticker in your passport expires or within 10 days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later. BRPs are usually created and sent out 10 days after your visa decision letter is issued.

Collecting your BRP from Bath Spa University

When you make a student visa application, you'll have an opportunity to enter a code into the Alternative Collection Location (ACL) field. Bath Spa University is a designated Alternative Collection Location for biometric residence permits so we have a code you can enter to have your BRP sent to us.

Our code is 2HE982 and once entered, our address will appear in the student visa application form. 

We advise that students use the ACL code to have their BRPs sent to the University. Once we receive it we can check it for any mistakes, support you to report them and take a copy (which we must have anyway) before giving it to you. You'll be able to collect your BRP from us at your enrolment session or by appointment if it arrives much earlier or later on.

Collecting your BRP from the Bath Post Office

If you don't enter the Bath Spa ACL code your BRP will be sent to the Bath Post Office where you will be able to collect it once it has arrived.

The downside of sending it to the Post Office is that corrections won't be pointed out to you and you won't necessarily be contacted when it's ready to collect. 

If you're expecting to collect your BRP from the Post Office and it has not arrived within the expected timeframe, you can report a problem with collecting your BRP.

If there are any mistakes on a BRP, the University is required to report these to the Home Office. It's also the student's responsibility to report the mistakes within 10 days of receiving the BRP. This is a Home Office requirement and they expect notification from both the University and the student. 

If you use the ACL code and we receive your BRP we'll check that the details on it are correct. We'll notify you at your enrolment session of any mistakes to be corrected and follow up with an email to your Bath Spa email address. 

You can report a problem with your new BRP on the Home Office website. When you report the mistake, you can also let them know where you would like the new BRP to be sent. You may prefer to have it sent to your new UK address but if you do, please send a photo of the front and back of your new BRP to us at immigrationadvice@bathspa.ac.uk. 

If you're inside the UK and your lost or stolen BRP was originally valid for 3 months or more, report it and apply for a replacement.

You need to do this as soon as possible for safety but you must do it within 3 months of losing it.

You can be fined up to £1,000 and made to leave the UK if you do not apply for a replacement within 3 months.

If you’re outside the UK, you must report your lost or stolen BRP.

You cannot apply for a replacement BRP outside the UK. Instead, you’ll need to apply for a ‘replacement BRP visa’, which lets you re-enter the UK once only. It costs £154.

You can apply for a replacement BRP when you return to the UK. You must do this within 3 months of reporting it lost or stolen unless you have a good reason, for example you were unable to return to the UK in that time.

There's no requirement to transfer evidence of your permission to your new passport, in order to travel to the UK, if you still have your previous passport containing the vignette.

However, if you have time before the 90-day period expires, or before the deadline for collecting a BRP in UK passes, you may wish to do one of the following:

• If you're outside the UK, apply online for a transfer of conditions (vignette transfer). In the category of application page, select to 'To transfer or replace your visa (vignette)'. The cost is £154. 
• If you're in the UK, apply for a transfer of conditions. You'll be required to enrol your biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) as part of this application and you'll receive a BRP once the application is successfully processed. It costs £161.

There's no need to apply to replace your BRP if you obtain a new passport, unless you'll have a different nationality (see Report change of circumstances). Notify the UKVI of your new passport details using form MCC.

If you applied for your student visa and received digital status, the visa status will be linked to the biometric chip in your passport so it is vital that you update the Home Office with your new passport. This does not happen automatically. 

You will need to log into your UKVI account to update your passport details. 

If your passport was lost or stolen we strongly recommend that you contact us so that we can offer you support.

You'll need to report this to the police and apply for a replacement passport. Contact your country’s embassy in the country where you currently are for further information.