People & Organisational Development

Introduction

As part of the University's commitment to supporting international staff, an interest-free visa loan scheme is available to assist with the costs associated with dependant visa applications for immediate family members. Eligible employees may apply for a loan of up to £10,000 to help meet these expenses.

The scheme is available to staff members with a contract duration of 12 months or more.

To find out more about the scheme or to request an application form, please contact:

Staff UKVI Team

INTEREST FREE LOAN SCHEME - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

To be eligible, you must have a contract of employment with the University of at least 12 months. 

You cannot apply on behalf of family members if you yourself are not making a visa application.

You should complete the Interest Free Loan Application Form which will be provided to you by the Staff UKVI Compliance Team. To request a form please contact

staffukvi@glasgow.ac.uk 

Once the form has been returned, the team will arrange for this to be processed. 

Note: Please complete all parts of the form to avoid any processing delays.  If the form is incomplete, it will be returned to you before consideration of the application.  

Once approved by the Director of People &OD Operations, the application will be forwarded to Payroll for payment. 

The table below sets out which immigration-related expenses can be funded through the visa loan and which costs are excluded.

Eligible ExpensesExpenses Not Covered
Visa application fees Premium service appointments for family members
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fees Visa applications for extended family members
Visa application fees for immediate family members¹ English language tests
Legal advice obtained to support visa application(s) Travel costs to appointments
Premium service appointments for employee applicants  
 
¹ Immediate family members include: spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same-sex partner, and children under the age of 18 at the time of application.

In the event that your application is unsuccessful/not approved, you will receive a letter from Staff UKVI Compliance Team outlining the reasons for rejection.

You may be asked to resubmit or amend your application in line with the Scheme rules.  There is no right of appeal.  

You can borrow the equivalent of the eligible costs of your application(s) as evidenced in your application, up to a maximum of £10,000. 

You will be required to provide evidence of the fees required prior to submission, and thereafter proof of submission and expenditure.  The loan amount will not exceed the expenditure amount. 

This will depend on the completeness of the application form and evidence submitted. In general, please allow at least 4 weeks for the full process from submission to approval.

Once approved, the loan will be paid into your bank account by BACS transfer, usually within 10 working days of final approval.  You will be sent an email by Payroll to confirm it has been processed.  

The University will manage this internally and will not apply any admin charges to process your application. 

The repayment schedule will be based on the duration of your contract.  You can opt to repay over 18, 24 or 36 months if your employment contract with us is open-ended or its duration exceeds the selected repayment schedule.

The University will deduct equal instalments on a monthly basis, depending on the repayment schedule, after Tax and NI and any other appropriate deductions have been made.   

In the event that you leave the University before the end of the agreed loan term, you are required to repay the balance in full. The University reserves the right to recover the balance from your remaining salary during your notice period. Where the retained sums are insufficient to settle the outstanding balance, you will be required to repay the outstanding amount within 30 days of written confirmation from the University.