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Under visa sponsorship obligations, the Home Office's UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires Ulster University to monitor the attendance, engagement and/or the visa status of any overseas students registered for study at the University.

The exact responsibilities of the postgraduate researcher and the University will vary depending on the type of visa that the postgraduate researcher is registered on.

As part of visa requirements, postgraduate researchers must engage fully with their research studies. The University is obliged to report any visa holders who break the conditions of their visa or who do not engage in full-time study.

Non-Sponsored Students

Postgraduate researchers who are on any type of immigration permission/visa other than the Student Route (formerly Tier 4) will be required to provide their current visa and in-date passport as requested throughout the year, and must notify the University of any change in visa status.

Non-sponsored students are not monitored for visa purposes by the University.

Engagement Monitoring for Student Route Visa Holders

All full-time postgraduate researchers are normally expected to be on campus on a daily basis (Monday - Friday). You can ask the Postgraduate Tutor in your subject area about expectations for attendance if needed. There is no provision for blended or online for Student Route visa holders.

The University’s central UKVI Attendance and Engagement Team undertakes attendance monitoring for all Student Route visa holders at Ulster. Researchers must demonstrate engagement for visa purposes by recording an in person Supervisor meeting AND having the notes accepted no later than the last day of the month in PhD Manager. It is the researcher's responsibility to ensure the notes are accepted, even if it means prompting their supervisor.

Online meetings cannot be accepted unless a researcher is on pre-approved period of Study Away.

Postgraduate researchers holding Student Route visas must ensure that they have recorded, and their supervisor has accepted, notes of at least one in-person meeting on PhD Manager by the end of each calendar month.

This engagement requirement continues throughout the year, from the date of registration until the date of submission of the final post-viva thesis.

Exceptions may be made for:

  • A pre-approved period of Leave of Absence (e.g. for medical reasons) or a period of authorised absence recorded on PhD Manager.*
  • Pre-approved Annual Leave
  • Dates when the University is closed.
  • The time between submission of the first thesis and the viva. (Ulster classifies this as a holiday period for visa purposes.)

Please see headings further below for more guidance on authorised absences. (Please note that these apply to all postgraduate researchers.)

*Please note that, in some instances, we may not be able to continue sponsorship of your student visa during these Absence periods which would result in the UKVI cancelling your Student Visa.

Working and Employment

There are restrictions on the number of hours and the type of work postgraduate researchers can undertake. Researchers can work 6 hours during 'normal working hours' (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm) and the rest of the 20 hours from visa conditions can be worked evenings or weekends.

UKVI define a week as Monday-Sunday. You cannot carry over unused hours i.e. if you work 15 hours one week you cannot work 25 the next.

No full-time work should be undertaken, at any stage, during non-holiday periods (see Annual Leave information below) until submission of the final post-viva thesis.

Please contact the Doctoral College for further information on working on a Student Route Visa.

Unauthorised Absence

If a postgraduate researcher does not have an in-person meeting with their supervisor recorded and accepted on PhD Manager no later than the last day of any calendar month and does not meet the exceptions above, it will be noted as an Unauthorised Absence. The UKVI Attendance and Engagement Team will email the postgraduate researcher to advise why the Unauthorised Absence was incurred.

Sponsorship At Risk

A Researcher can request a Sponsorship at Risk meeting with a member of the UKVI Attendance and Engagement team through a link in the Unauthorised Absence email.

Intention to Withdraw

A PhD Researcher will receive an email advising the University intends to withdraw sponsorship. They have 2 working days to complete an Intention to Withdraw (ITW) Mitigation Evidence form and upload any supporting evidence if either of the following applies:

  • 2 unauthorised absences in a row (e.g. November and December)
  • 5 unauthorised absences within an academic year.

The Student Visa & Immigration Support Service (SVISS) will decide if the University can continue to sponsor the researcher’s visa. There are two possible outcomes:

  • Sponsorship will be maintained – if the researcher has another Unauthorised Absence, within the same academic year (starts October), they will revert to Intention to Withdraw again.
  • Sponsorship will be withdrawn – SVISS will report withdrawal of sponsorship to UKVI and email the researcher regarding withdrawal of sponsorship. The researcher loses the right to study immediately and has 60 days to leave the UK or apply for another immigration category.

Tips and suggestions for managing monthly meetings with supervisors

  • Discuss your visa requirements with your supervisor/s so they can support you by accepting the notes in a timely way.
  • Schedule meetings with your supervisor/s in advance, even for a few months ahead, and for the beginning of each month to give time for your supervisor to accept the meeting record on PhD Manager. Plan around any annual leave you or supervisors have planned. (Consider this especially over the summer period.)
  • Record the meeting in real time - finalise and submit on PhD Manager the meeting record at the meeting and ask your supervisor to also accept it at the meeting.
  • PhD Manager shows who a task is with for action so if you see that a meeting record is with your supervisor for approval for some time, remind them, if necessary, to accept the meeting record.
  • For any meeting where the researcher and at least one supervisor attends in person and another supervisor joins online, this should be recorded in notes of the meeting as an in-person meeting.
  • If none of your supervisors are available to meet in person in any month, please contact the Postgraduate Tutor for your area to make arrangements to meet with an alternative member of staff for the purposes of monthly monitoring and record this as usual on PhD Manager as a meeting with supervisors but with a note of the alternative staff member you met with.  The UKVI Attendance & Engagement Team will not accept that a meeting was not held because no supervisors were available.

Postgraduate researchers who are having difficulties or need help are welcome to contact Ulster's Student Wellbeing team for advice and support at studentwellbeing@ulster.ac.uk or the University's International Student Advisory Service at isas@ulster.ac.uk.

Authorised Absences

Details below provide guidance on various grounds for an authorised absence for all postgraduate researchers. If you need further advice, please contact the Doctoral College.

Study Away

There may be time when a postgraduate researcher studies off-campus e.g. attendance at a conference or training event, field work or data collection. If this period exceeds 10 working days, a Study Away Change Request must be submitted and approved in advance by a supervisor on PhD Manager.

Annual Leave

Postgraduate researchers are entitled to 26 days of 'floating' annual leave in each academic year, which can be taken whenever they choose as well as additional days when the University is closed. The annual leave year runs from 1 October until 30 September the following year. You cannot carry over any 'unspent' annual leave into the next year.

To request annual leave, postgraduate researchers must submit an Absence request on PhD Manager and select the 'annual leave' option. Annual leave requests must be approved in advance by a supervisor.

In exceptional circumstances (e.g. a personal or medical emergency) a short period of additional leave may be approved by the Doctoral College.

The period between submission and the viva examination is also classified as a holiday period and temporary full-time employment is permitted* (providing that any studentship payments have finished). Term-time begins again on the viva date and only part-time employment is permitted and will continue until the final post-viva thesis is submitted.

*Based on our understanding of UKVI policies and procedures. You may wish to seek external immigration advice.

If you are unsure if an in-person meeting is required  to demonstrate engagement for visa purposes, please contact the Doctoral College.

Leave of Absence

Maternity Leave / Maternity Support Leave

While postgraduate researchers' funding terms and conditions may include entitlement to maternity leave, UKVI regulations do not have provision for maternity leave for Student Route visa. Researchers should contact the Doctoral College to discuss leave options. Depending on the circumstances, this may include a short period of Authorised Absence or a formal Leave of Absence. Please note that if a formal Leave of Absence is granted, it will result in the withdrawal of visa sponsorship. However, if the necessary conditions are met, a new CAS can be issued to support a return to the UK and completion of the PhD.

Requests for visa extensions for delays due to periods of maternity during their studies will not be approved.

Postgraduate researchers who have partners taking maternity leave may be entitled to a period of maternity support leave.

Medical Reasons and Illness

If a postgraduate researcher is too unwell to attend campus, they should notify their supervisors by email and submit an Absence on PhD Manager.

If this period exceeds 5 working days then a letter from a UK GP or other healthcare professional must also be provided.

If the period of sickness exceeds 10 days the postgraduate researchers and/or supervisors should email the Doctoral College at pgr@ulster.ac.uk for advice on how this may impact the postgraduate researcher's visa.