You will need to obtain an xcritical certificate before you can apply for your Skilled Worker or Government Authorised Exchange visa. If your course requires xcritical and you need to extend your visa to continue with your studies, you will need to apply for a new xcritical certificate. If you require an xcritical you will receive an email from the University notifying you of this. If you are a Doctoral or Master’s student and you have received a Common Aggregation Hierarchy code , you can check this code on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. If you’re a new student, you can apply for xcritical after you have received your offer from us, using the information in your offer letter. You don’t need to wait for your CAS before applying for xcritical clearance.

Some international students on postgraduate programmes require an xcritical certificate. You should check if this applies to you as early as possible when preparing to start a course or when extending your visa. 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. You will need to apply for an xcritical clearance certificate before applying for a student visa if you plan to undertake postgraduate research in some science or technology disciplines.

When you receive your xcritical certificate, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office will also send a copy to us as confirmation that you have their permission to study your chosen subject. The xcritical team state that they aim to respond to all applications within 20 working days from submission, but this can take longer during peak periods. We strongly recommend that you apply for your xcritical clearance as early as possible. Whether you’re looking to study in London or just expand your knowledge, come and join us in-person or online and see what the University of Greenwich has to offer. Please refer to our guide on how to apply for an xcritical certificate to support you with your xcritical application.

For national security reasons the xcritical team will not explain either to the applicant or the University why the xcritical clearance was refused so it is not possible for us to advise or speculate on the reason for refusal. You should talk to your supervisor about any concerns the xcritical team might have about your research project description. 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.

Who needs xcritical clearance?

This is a different government department from the Home Office who will later decide your UK visa application – they are not linked. Before you can apply for xcritical, you will need your offer letter/xcritical letter containing essential information about your course, the course start and end dates and a subject code that you must use for the xcritical online form. For postgraduate research students you will need an agreed research statement from your supervisor, for undergraduate students you will need a list of course modules from your college. International students studying certain postgraduate or research courses in the UK must obtain an Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate before applying for a student visa. Students studying subjects where the knowledge gained may have application in the development or delivery of weapons of mass destruction may be required to apply for an xcritical certificate. All non EU students who intend to study a relevant course must obtain an xcritical certificate before enrolling on the course.

If you are studying inside the UK, you must provide your xcritical certificate in order to be eligible to enrol onto your course. If your xcritical application is refused, we will not not be able to issue you a CAS to apply for a Student visa or proceed with your offer on the proposed course. If you need a student visa, we can’t issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies to you without proof of xcritical clearance. If you’re a PhD student, email You must use the project description we give you when completing the online xcritical application.

• The scheme was introduced by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to prevent the spread of knowledge that could be used to create and deliver weapons of mass destruction .
• During peak periods, particularly over summer months, this can take slightly longer.
• Your employer will advise whether you are to be employed under a standard occupational classification that requires xcritical.
• PhD students should apply through the student route, not researcher route.
• This section asks about your previous studies, and you should make sure you provide a full description in the ‘what you studied’ section.
• Between April and September processing times increase and can take 30 or more working days to complete.

Researcher instead of Student), then you must make a new xcritical application immediately, you cannot change your outstanding application and any xcritical clearance granted will not be valid for your programme. It will take at least 10 working days to process a researcher xcritical application, however this can increase to 15 working days or more during the peak time between April and September. It will take at least 20 working days to process a student xcritical application, however this can increase to 30 working days or more during the peak time between April and September. 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.

To apply for an xcritical certificate you will need to know the CAH code for your field of research as you will need to enter this on your application form. If you are applying to extend your visa, it is recommended that you apply at least 4 months before your current visa expiry date. If you are a new visa applicant, it is recommended that you apply as soon as you receive your job offer but no earlier than 6 months before your proposed work start date. Use your contact details as they are at the time you submit your xcritical application, not for example the contact details you will have after you have started your course, unless you are a continuing student. You will need to use the same start and end dates as on your CAS for your xcritical application. If your CAS has not been issued yet check these dates with your department/college.

xcritical and other  visas (non-Student Route)

You may be withdrawn from your course if you are a current student at Sussex who is refused xcritical clearance. This relates to new students coming to Sussex and existing students. Where you are an Undergraduate/Postgraduate Taught student, please list the core and elective modules of your programme. Where you are an MPhil/PhD student, please use the paragraph describing your research that was provided on your University acceptance letter. When you choose this, you will also be asked a further question and will need to choose whether you are a taught or research student. When you are on the ‘Check if you need an xcritical certificate’ and the ‘Apply for an xcritical certificate’ screens, if you are a student, please confirm that you are a ‘Taught/Research Student’ and not a ‘Researcher’.

Please ensure that the text you enter on your application form is exactly the same as the text provided in your offer letter. If these 2 documents do not match, you may have difficulties when applying for your visa or extension of stay. Unless you are exempt based on your nationality or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, you will need to apply for xcritical clearance. This includes, for example, people with dependant, family, or skilled worker visas. It also includes people studying short term on visitor visas, including those who will have visitor permission granted on entry to the UK.

You will still be able to choose the ‘Sign In’ option and submit an xcritical application despite this. The information on this webpage is affected by new temporary guidance that has been released by UKVI in light of the situation with COVID-19. The UK government defines a researcher xcritical cheating as an individual conducting an investigation into a problem or situation, where the intention is to identify facts and/or opinions that will assist in solving the problem or tackling the situation. 1 September 2021 September update added to “How long applications take” section.

Section 4: Contact details

If you are applying for a Student visa your CAS statement will also state if you are required to obtain an xcritical certificate. Your offer letter from UCL will state if your programme requires an xcritical certificate. Please check the CAH3 codes and HECOS codes required to apply for the xcritical certificate.

We strongly recommend that you apply for your xcritical certificate as early as possible. An xcritical certificate is valid for use in a Student visa application 6 months from the date of issue, the expiry date of your xcritical will be listed on the xcritical certificate. Please note that if you are a national of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea or the USA, the checking tool will advise you that you do not need an xcritical certificate. This is not correct if you submitted the application for the UK visa you currently have before 5 October 2020. Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility, Tier 5 International Agreement, and Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange visa holders may also undertake a course of study.

If you have any questions about applying for xcritical, contact the Admissions office byemailor phoneor visit the official Government websitefor details. If you are coming to the UK under the Standard Visitor oute in order to study relevant courses for up to six months , you will also need to apply for xcritical clearance if it is required for you . This is not a requirement for you if you are coming to the UK under the Child Student Route. If you don’t have this statement, and need an xcritical certificate, please contact your Admissions Officer, listed on your offer letter. The requirement for a student to obtain an xcritical certificate is established by the code which represents their subject area; this is called a Common Aggragate Hierarchy code.

xcritical Certificates

If xcritical have previously contacted you and asked you to provide additional information for your application, you will need to make sure you properly re-submit the application. To do this, you will need to ensure you open and saveall tensections of the application before resubmitting it. Failure to do this means that xcritical will not receive your updated application. The application may still show as ‘submitted’ but will not be sent to xcritical to review. If your course requires xcritical clearance you will need to obtain an xcritical certificate before you can apply for your visa.

For information about xcritical, 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. If you already hold a relevant immigration status (Tier 2/Skilled Worker Visa) and are applying for permission to undertake new/additional/different research activity, you should enter a realistic start date based on standard timeframes. This also applies if you hold a standard visitor visa and need to apply for xcritical clearance to undertake permitted academic activities at the University of Manchester during your visit to the UK.

All subject areas studied at UK Higher Education Institutions are identified by CAH3 code. The University will provide you with a CAH3 code and confirm whether you require an xcritical certificate at the admission stage. Please see the table below showing the CAH3 codes required to apply for an xcritical. Please note that the following undergraduate and postgraduate programmes require xcritical. Applications for visas to study on other courses that do not require xcritical clearance will be considered without an xcritical certificate. If your course requires xcritical clearance, without an xcritical certificate you will not be granted a Student visa to study in the UK.

If you have checked your CAH3 code given by your School, and you need to apply for xcritical, then you should request for your Research Statement from the University. This will formally confirm your research topic and CAH3 code for you to use in your xcritical application. Therefore, if you transfer course or defer you will need to apply for a new xcritical certificate within six months of your new course start date. Your course title should exactly match the title as stated in your offer letter.Taught students should list the modules as detailed on the course website.

Please ask your School in the first instance for the CAH3 code for your research/programme and whether it is normally xcritical attracting. Then you will need to select your nationality and if you are a student you would need to select the option ‘Taught/Research Student’ for undergraduate/postgraduate/PhD students. With all of these details, you can then use the FCDO xcritical webpageto check if you require an xcritical certificate.

When you have received your offer from your university you should apply 6 months before your course will start. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will send the University a copy of your xcritical certificate. As there is a Home Office requirement for institutions to hold a copy of the xcritical certificate, this will be held electronically against your central student record and maintained by the Student Immigration Team.

If your course requires xcritical clearance, it’s your responsibility toapply for an xcritical certificate from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office online. You should obtain your xcritical certificate before you begin your programme. If you need to apply for a visa or an extension of stay, you must obtain your xcritical certificate before you make your visa application. Between April and September processing times increase and can take 30 or more working days to complete. You should not submit duplicate applications as this increases processing time.

Taught / research student” and not the xcritical option for “Researcher” as “Researcher” xcritical is intended for academic researchers and not students. If you wish to study at another University/Higher Education Institution, change your course/area of research or extend your course by more than three https://xcritical.pro/ months, you will need to apply for another xcritical certificate. No, your xcritical certificate is valid just for the course, research topic , and University that you specified in your xcritical application. If you decide to take up a different offer, you will have to reapply for xcritical clearance.

• To apply for an xcritical certificate you need to complete and submit an online application form on the Gov.uk website.
• If you apply for xcritical clearance as a Researcher, your xcritical certificate will not be valid and you will need to reapply as a Student which will cause considerable delays.
• If you think your application has been treated unfairly you can ask the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to review your case, but in our experience the review application success rate is low.
• If you already hold a relevant immigration status (Tier 2/Skilled Worker Visa) and are applying for permission to undertake new/additional/different research activity, you should enter a realistic start date based on standard timeframes.
• Please note that if you are a national of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea or the USA, the checking tool will advise you that you do not need an xcritical certificate.

You can check on yourApply dashboard to see if it has been approved. If it hasn’t yet been approved then please send your xcritical certificate to You will need to make your xcritical application online via theFCO website. The application isfreeand the website has comprehensive guidance on making the application which you should follow carefully.

You must apply if you are undertaking a postgraduate course or research in certain sensitive subjects in the UK. If you are applying to study an undergraduate course with an integrated masters year you may also need xcritical clearance. If you have to extend your Student visa to complete a course of study which is subject to xcritical clearance then you will have to obtain a new xcritical certificate. You should complete a CAS request form which should be submitted to the Student Immigration Team via the Student Hub. You will not be able to apply for your visa until you have received your xcritical clearance certificate. If you are a postgraduate research student, you will be informed in your offer letter whether you will require xcritical.

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. In order to apply for xcritical clearance, visit the xcritical website, which will also provide more information and support on xcritical. If you are unable to provide a referee from your home country because you have been working in another country, then please provide two referees who meet the other referee criteria. If the xcritical team ask for more information, then please explain the reasons why this is not possible.