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The School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture

PhD Student Visa Holders

In this section
PhD Student Visa Holders

Please note, the below only applies to students in the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture. If you are a student in another school, you should contact them directly to confirm their processes with them.

UKVI stipulates that all Postgraduate Research students at the University of Aberdeen on a Student Visa must engage with their studies by meeting their supervisor in person every 4 - 5 weeks, so at least once per month.

The School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture follows the below monitoring process to ensure we are compliant with the above:

  1. PGR Student Visa holders are emailed at the start of each month reminding them of their obligation to engage with their studies in person at least once per month - the preferred engagement method is to meet your supervisor in person.

    PLEASE NOTE: Where possible, a meeting should be arranged within a similar timescale with another member of your supervisory team, but where this is not possible, you should ensure you sign-in with the School Office (Taylor A13) as an alternative. Please note that this option should only be used on an exceptional basis.

  1. Students are required to take meeting notes via this monthly engagement log and should upload these notes to this form . If you have an authorised absence or off-campus study form, you can also upload it on the form. The notes can be brief.
  1. These documents are automatically sent to the relevant supervisor/member of the admin team for approval, using Microsoft Teams Approvals. You should only use the form link above - please do not send email attachments to the School Office Admin Team or your supervisor.
  • If approved, these documents will be added to the student's record and the visa sign-in will be considered as having been completed for that month.
  • If rejected, or a student indicates that they didn't meet on campus or had no meeting, students are automatically emailed to inform them that they need to visit the office by the end of the month.
  1. For students who are required to come to the office, the following applies:
  • The student completes a short online form in the School Office which instantly instigates an approval process via Teams on the computer/laptop which is stationed at the school office front desk. The student's details appear on screen and the member of admin staff checks this against the person in front of them/their ID card. Once approved, the visa sign-in will be considered as having been completed for that month.

At the beginning of each month, the approvals list for the previous month will be checked and any students who have failed to engage will be put through the C6 process as appropriate, which may ultimately lead to the reporting of your visa to UKVI.

Submit your monthly engagement log and other documents as required here

Notes and Frequently Asked Questions
Important Documents

Please see below a number of relevant documents related to this process.

Student Guidance 2024-25
Further Contacts

The Student Immigration Compliance Team are available to contact to discuss any matter relating to the engagement monitoring process for Student/Tier 4 Visa holders and can be reached via email .

They also have some helpful advice and guidance on our webpage .

The UK Council for International Student Affairs is also a great source of information and guidance on a variety of matters affecting international students.

If you have any queries about the process in the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at llmvc.enquiries@abdn.ac.uk .