Credibility interviews

A credibility interview will be conducted by the Home Office to establish whether you are a genuine student. The interview is also an opportunity for the Home Office to check that you can speak English to the required standard. When assessing a student’s credibility, the Home Office are required to take into account all of the information provided in your visa application as well as the answers you provide in your credibility interview.

If you are applying from overseas

Interviews may be arranged and conducted in a variety of ways, depending on the applicant’s location and availability. In some cases, the interview may take place as a telephone interview, where the visa caseworker contacts you by phone without prior appointment. You will be asked whether you are able to answer questions about your application, and if you confirm that you are happy to continue, the interview will usually proceed at that time.

In other cases, you may be contacted by email or telephone to arrange an interview at a designated time and location. Normally, the interview will take place via video call or telephone call.

If you fail to undertake the interview when requested, without providing a reasonable explanation for why you are unable to do so, the visa caseworker may refuse your Student visa application. Interviews can only be rearranged if you provide adequate reasons for not being able to attend, and the interview team is reasonably satisfied with those reasons.

You may also be asked to attend a second interview. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) may contact you by telephone or email to arrange the interview time and location.

It is important to check your email regularly, including your junk or spam folders, to ensure that you do not miss any communication regarding your appointment or other visa-related matters. If you provided more than one email address on your visa application form, make sure you check all email accounts listed.

If you are applying for a Student visa extension in the UK

You will receive a letter, email or telephone call after you have submitted your online application telling you that you have been selected for an interview and with further information about the time and location of the interview. 
Normally, the interview will take place on video call or telephone call, but it is possible that you could be invited to an interview in person at a designated location. This may not be in London and you may have to travel to another part of the UK to attend the interview.

You are normally given a deadline to confirm your attendance and you must respond before the deadline. It is very important that you attend your interview even if it is inconvenient. If you have a genuine and compelling reason for not being able to attend the interview in the UK, please contact Student Advice for further advice as soon as possible.

If you have selected one of the priority methods of service, it is highly unlikely that you will receive a decision within the advertised priority standards. You will not be issued with a refund if an application cannot be processed within the advertised time periods due to credibility checks.

The credibility interview is an important part of the visa application process.  It is your chance to show that you are a genuine and credible student, so it is essential that you prepare for the interview and take it seriously.

The initial interview

The initial interview is conducted by video call with a member of staff from the Home Office based in the UK and is likely to last between 10 and 20 minutes. The interviewing officer will introduce themselves and confirm your personal details, such as your nationality, name, date of birth, course, and course start date.

You will also be asked whether you are fit and well enough to be interviewed and whether you can hear the interviewer clearly. If you cannot hear the interviewer clearly, it is very important that you inform them. The interviewer will take notes of your answers throughout the interview process.

The interview is used as an opportunity to determine whether you meet the English language requirement and to assess whether you are a genuine student. If you cannot hear the questions clearly, you may not be able to answer to the best of your ability. The interviewer will make an initial assessment of whether they believe you are a genuine student. The notes from your interview will then be passed to the visa caseworker, who will decide, based on your full application, whether you meet the Student visa requirements, including the genuine student requirement.
In some cases, the visa caseworker may invite you to attend a second interview if they require further clarification or have additional questions.

You will be asked about your previous studies, both in the UK and elsewhere, your course at the University of Westminster, and your reasons for wanting to study in the UK. You may also be asked why you chose your course at the University of Westminster instead of similar courses offered by other institutions in the UK or in your home country.

You will need to demonstrate that you understand the course you have chosen, including the modules available and why the course is suitable for you. You will also be expected to know about the University of Westminster and the facilities it offers.

In addition, you will be asked about your future plans and how your chosen course will support your career goals. Questions may also be asked about how you are financing your studies and your likely future earnings in your home country.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will want to be satisfied that you are a genuine student, that you understand your course and the University, that you have the necessary funds to pay for your studies and living costs, and that your English language ability meets the required standard.

A second interview

You could be asked to attend a second interview, although not all students are invited to a second interview. This interview will be more in-depth and is likely to be longer in duration. You may be interviewed via video call, telephone call or asked to attend an appointment at a specified time and location. The interviewer will make notes summarising your answers.

At this interview you could be asked to elaborate on your answers from your initial interview. You may be asked to answer questions about your visa application form and the documents you submitted in support of your visa application. 

There may be a focus on your and your family’s financial circumstances. You may be asked questions about the financial documents that you submitted in support of your visa application and the source of your maintenance funds. You could be asked questions about your living arrangements in the UK and the potential costs of living in the UK, and particularly in London. A report on the interview will then be sent to the Immigration Officer processing your visa application.

Important: We advise that at the end of the interview you request a copy of the transcript or your interview for your records. 

The interview process for students applying from inside the UK

If you are in the UK, the interview should last about 20 or 30 minutes. Your interview may take place in person, via telephone or video call. In some circumstances, you may be asked to attend a second interview.

You will be asked more detailed questions about your present course, previous courses and the reasons for choosing these courses as well as questions about where you live and what your financial support arrangements are, how much your fees are and general questions about your life in the UK and your future plans.

The interview will also test your ability to speak and understand English at the required level. If there are technical problems with the video link and you cannot hear properly, please make sure you point this out.

A report on the interview will then be sent to the Immigration Officer processing your visa application.

Make sure you read the information about your course and the University on our website so that you can answer the questions confidently. Think about why you have chosen this course and why you want to study in the UK. Be clear about how the course will fit in with your previous studies and your future career plans. Also, be clear about how you are going to finance the course, who is providing the money, and show that you are aware of the cost of living in the UK.

If you are asked about whether you plan to work in the UK, be clear that you know that you can only work 20 hours per week in term time (10 hours per week for pre-sessional courses or other courses below degree level) and that you know that you cannot rely on finding part-time work to supplement your finances.

Questions to consider

It is important to avoid generic, unresearched and non-credible answers to questions about your studies and your future plans. Your responses should be clear, informed and evidenced. 

Course-related

• What degree will you study at the UOW and why did you choose this course? 
• What are some of the modules you will study and why are you interested in these?
• How will your course be taught and assessed?
• Did you consider any other universities and what made you decide on this university?
• You should refer to your course webpage and programme specification on the University of Westminster website
• Read more about the University of Westminster 

Your financial situation

• How will you finance your studies (fees and living costs in the UK)?  
• If you are being funded by your parents. what do your parents do for a living? What is your parents’ annual income? How will they manage to pay for your studies in the UK and their own regular living expenses
• How much money will you need per month for living expenses? 
• Will you have access to this money for the whole of your studies in the UK?
• If you are funding your studies in the UK yourself, how do you see this investment being worth the cost?

Your personal situation and future plans

• What are your reasons for studying in the UK ?
• Did you consider any other countries and what made you decide on the UK?
• If you have previously studied in higher education, why you are studying another course and why now (especially if there has been a gap since last studies)

What are your plans after you graduate?

• What research have you done about future employment prosepects (including job opportunities, potential earnings) and how would these studies support your future prospects?

Your knowledge of studying in the UK

• Where will you live in London, how far is it from the campus you will study on, and why do you want to live there?
• How will you travel from your accommodation to the University?
• Describe the University campus – which campus is your course on? What facilities will be available to you at the University? 
• Can you describe the facilities at the University?

You can find more general information for international students about living in the UK on the Education UK website.

The Student Visa Caseworker Guidance explains in more detail the types of questions that UKVI need to consider when considering the genuine student rule (see pages 17 – 22).

If you are invited to take part in a credibility interview and fail to attend without an acceptable reason, your visa application will be refused. If you have been invited to take part in an interview and cannot attend, please contact Student Advice.

If your visa application has been refused for credibility reasons, please contact Student Advice immediately to discuss your next steps.

If your Student visa application has been refused and you believe the decision was the result of a caseworking error, you should apply for an administrative review. An administrative review costs £80 and allows UKVI to reconsider its decision where you can demonstrate that a factual or procedural error has been made.

It is important to understand that an administrative review is not an opportunity to submit new evidence or improve the quality of your original application. Instead, it is designed specifically to highlight where UKVI may have:

• misinterpreted information you provided;
• overlooked key details; or
• incorrectly applied the Immigration Rules.

This process is particularly relevant where refusals relate to credibility interviews. In these cases, a caseworker assesses whether they believe you are a genuine student. Sometimes, the refusal notice may not accurately reflect your understanding of the interview and may include examples where correct answers were misunderstood or taken out of context.

An administrative review gives you the opportunity to identify these errors clearly and systematically, helping to ensure that the decision on your application is based on an accurate understanding of your case.

You must apply for an administrative review within 28 days of the decision if you applied for your visa outside the UK, or within 14 days if you applied inside the UK. UKVI publishes estimated processing times on its website and, while decisions can sometimes be made more quickly, an administrative review can still take some time.

Even if the review is successful, you may not receive a new decision in time to start your course. If you are unable to enrol on time, the University will be required to withdraw its sponsorship. However, UKVI will contact the University if the administrative review is likely to be successful to check whether a new CAS can be issued and whether late enrolment is possible.

It is worthwhile requesting an administrative review because a successful outcome can ensure your immigration record is corrected, even if you are unable to attend the course. Please note that the University of Westminster is unlikely to issue a second CAS for a new visa application unless your administrative review is successful.

To strengthen your administrative review, you should request the transcript of your credibility interview as early as possible (if you do not already have a copy).

You can do this by submitting a Subject Access Request (SAR). Reviewing the transcript can help you identify any misunderstandings or incorrect statements in your refusal notice, allowing you to address them clearly in your review.

Please note that the transcript may not arrive before the deadline for submitting your administrative review. If you need to submit your review before receiving it, you may explain in your submission that you intend to provide additional information later, as you were unable to access your interview transcript before the deadline.

If you have been refused a Student visa following a credibility interview, please inform the Visa Compliance Team through the Student Centre and clearly directing your message to the Visa Compliance Team.