Registry

Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs)

What is a BRP?

A Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is your Student visa in the form of an identity card which contains your biometric data and shows a picture of your face.

Only some students receive a BRP; other students may receive their visa as a sticker inside their passport, or have their visa issued digitally without any physical document.

You should check any correspondence you receive from your visa application to see how your visa is issued.

If you applied for your visa outside the UK

If, after your visa application is approved, you receive an Entry Clearance vingette/sticker in your passport that lasts for 30 or 90 days, then you will need to collect a BRP after you arrive in the UK. The BRP shows your full visa length and conditions for the UK.

You must not attempt to enter the UK before the start date of your entry clearance visa. Please check this very carefully before booking travel and make sure you enter the UK within the 30 or 90-day window permitted.

Where to collect your BRP

Your completed visa application form will show the location from where you should collect your BRP. You should keep a copy of this to refer to after you arrive in the UK.

If you entered our ACL code (2HE499) into your visa application form, you can collect your BRP from the University of Glasgow's Main Campus. For Student visa holders, we will contact you after we receive your BRP, and tell you how you can book a time to collect it.

If you did not enter our ACL code into your visa application form, you will probably need to collect your BRP from a Post Office (usually the one that is closest to the UK address you provided in your visa application form). The nearest Post Office to our main campus that offers BRP collection is Partick Post Office, 384 Dumbarton Road, G11 6RY.

Important information

• If you are collecting your BRP from the Post Office, you must collect it before you attend Visa Registration. This is because we need to see the BRP and copy it for our records.
• If you have dependants included in your Student visa application, your dependants can collect their BRPs from us as well. Please note that each of your dependants (including children and babies) must be in attendance with their passport for their BRP(s) to be issued. If you and your dependants are collecting at the same time, only one appointment is required. If your dependants are collecting on their own, you will need to arrange an appointment for them.
• If you are under 18 years of age at the time of collecting your BRP, we strongly advise you to collect your BRP from us. If collecting from the Post Office, you need to be accompanied by a Responsible Adult who requires pre-approval from UKVI (even if they are your parent or legal guardian). This approval can take around 5 working days and often longer. If you collect from the University, a Responsible Adult is not required.
• If you are studying in Dumfries, BRPs cannot be collected from the Dumfries campus or from any Post Office in Dumfries. If you enter the ACL code into your visa application, you will need to collect from the University's Main Campus. If collecting from the Post Office, currently the nearest one that offers BRP collection is in Carlisle.

If you applied for your visa inside the UK

You do not need to collect a BRP. It will be sent by courier to the address you entered on your application form.