Immigration and arriving in the UK
Some of our international students describe arriving in the UK before they studied at Birmingham City University.
Also view on Youtube.
When you arrive in the UK, you will need to go through Passport Control. There will be two queues: make sure you are in the ‘Other Nationalities’ queue.
If the immigration officer refuses you entry and you have no visa, you may have to leave the country immediately, or be given a short period of temporary admission. If this happens you should seek help from the UK Immigration Advisory Service on 0844 974 4000 (if calling within the UK) or +44 207 199 7790 (if calling outside of the UK).
If you are refused entry and you have obtained a visa before arrival, you cannot be removed until your appeal has been heard. Contact the UK Immigration Advisory Service on 0844 974 4000 for help or ask the immigration officer to contact the British Council Desk staff, who should be able to assist.
Customs
There will be two exits: a red exit and a green exit.
You should go through the red exit if you are carrying any prohibited or restricted goods, or have more than the allowance of duty free goods (perfume, alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, cigars or tobacco). Your nearest British Consulate or High Commission will be able to tell you about restricted goods and duty free allowances or you can refer to the Customs and Excise website.
You will also be able to find this sort of information on the aircraft.
You should go through the green exit if you have no goods to declare. Please remember that your belongings can be searched even if you go through the green exit.
Do not agree to carry anyone else’s luggage through customs.
Delayed/lost luggage
In rare cases where your luggage is delayed on arrival, please follow the procedure below:
1. Do not panic.
2. Wait at the luggage carousel until the entire luggage from your flight has come through. Check the areas near the luggage carousel – if you were delayed at immigration, your luggage may have already been unloaded.
3. If your luggage does not arrive on the luggage carousel, go to the helpdesk/luggage enquiries/airline desk and tell the official there. You will be asked for the following items, so have them ready:
- Your flight ticket which has the luggage receipts and flight details
- A description of the missing luggage
- Your address in the UK.
4. Once the official has taken your details, they will explain the procedures for dealing with lost luggage and will give you a reference number and a telephone number for you to ring for any news. Alternatively they may give you a web address.
5. The official may be able to find out where your luggage is at the moment or you may have to wait for news.
6. Ask the official if they can give you a free emergency overnight kit which contains toiletries (e.g. toothbrush, etc). Please note that only some airlines provide this.
IMPORTANT – Do not leave the airport without following steps 3 and 4 otherwise you will not get your luggage or any compensation.
Police registration
If you are required to register with the police (please check on your visa), you must do so within seven days of arrival in the UK.
You will be given the letter that you need for Police Registration and further information about how to do it at enrolment.
After you have registered, the police will send your certificate to Student Services. Please note that this may take a few weeks. We will send you an email to your university email address when your certificate is ready for collection. It is important that you collect it immediately and keep it with you at all times.
You will need to inform the police every time you change your address or course and every time you are granted an extension of your permission to stay in the UK.