The weeks after your first offer are when most mistakes happen. The excitement is real, the emails are long, and every one of them seems to ask for money. This guide explains what each document means, what you are agreeing to when you pay, and the exact order to do things in. Facts are as of November 2026.
Conditional and unconditional offers
A conditional offer means the university wants you, provided you do certain things. The conditions are printed on the offer and are usually some mix of:
- Academic: final Class 12 marks, or a bachelor’s degree at a stated percentage or CGPA.
- English: a test score, or evidence that satisfies a waiver.
- Documents: certified transcripts, a degree certificate, a passport copy, references.
- Financial or procedural: a deposit by a date, or a declaration form.
An unconditional offer means every condition has been met and the place is yours once you accept it. Many students never see the word; their conditional offer becomes unconditional the day the last document is approved.
Read the conditions twice and list them with dates. Then meet them in the order the university can check fastest. Upload the English score as soon as it arrives, send provisional marksheets the week results come out, and ask whether a provisional degree certificate is accepted when the final one is months away. Most universities say yes if you also commit to supplying the final one on arrival.
Deposits and refund terms
Once conditions are met, most universities ask for a tuition deposit before they issue the document you need for the visa. The deposit secures your place and is deducted from your first-year fee. The amount is on your offer letter and is usually a few thousand pounds, dollars or euros.
Before you pay, find and read the refund policy. It is a page on the university website, and it is a contract. Typical terms:
- Refunded in full, less a small administration charge, if your visa is refused and you send the refusal notice within a stated period.
- Refunded if the university withdraws the offer or cancels the course.
- Not refunded if you withdraw, change your mind, or accept another offer.
- Not refunded if the application contained false documents.
In the UK, universities are bound by consumer law; the Competition and Markets Authority publishes advice for providers that says, in plain terms, that students have consumer rights and that terms must be fair. Keep the policy as a PDF with the date you read it.
Pay the deposit only into the university’s own bank account, using the details on its official website or in its own payment portal, and keep the receipt. If you receive an email saying the bank details have changed, telephone the university’s finance office on the number from its website before you send anything. Payment-diversion fraud targets exactly this moment.
Do not pay deposits to two universities “to keep options open” unless you can afford to lose one. Choose first, then pay.
The CAS and its equivalents
Each country has a document that turns an offer into something a visa officer will accept.
| Country | Document | Who issues it | What it does | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) | The university, in the Home Office system | A reference number recording your course, dates, fees and payments | Must be issued no more than 6 months before you apply and used once; check every field against your passport |
| Canada | LOA (Letter of Acceptance) | The designated learning institution | Confirms admission; since 1 December 2023 the college must verify it in the immigration portal before your permit is processed | Most college and bachelor’s applicants also need a provincial or territorial attestation letter issued for the current year |
| USA | Form I-20 | The SEVP-certified school | Records your programme, dates and funding; you then pay the I-901 SEVIS fee of US$350 and book the visa interview | Funding figures on the I-20 must match your bank evidence |
| Germany | Zulassungsbescheid (admission letter) | The university | Required for the national visa, along with the APS certificate and the blocked account | Many universities issue it only after uni-assist processing |
| Australia | CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment) | The institution, after you accept and pay | Needed to lodge the student visa under the Genuine Student requirement | Health cover (OSHC) is usually arranged at the same time |
The UK CAS deserves one more note. It is not a letter you can show at the border; it is a number. Your university sends you a “CAS statement” listing what it has entered, and that statement is what you check: name, date of birth, passport number, course title, start and end dates, tuition for the year, and the amount already paid. The “amount paid” field reduces the money you must show for the visa, so a missing deposit entry costs you lakhs of rupees in extra bank balance.
The order of steps after an offer
- Read the offer and list every condition with its deadline.
- Meet the conditions, fastest first. Chase referees and your college office early.
- Decide. Compare total cost, course content and city, not just ranking.
- Read the refund policy, then pay the deposit to the university’s own account. Save the receipt.
- Request the visa document: CAS, LOA, I-20, admission letter or CoE. Check every field the day it arrives and ask for corrections at once.
- Get the money in place. For the UK, the required sum must sit in the account for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of your application; loan sanctions and scholarship letters count where the rules allow. For Canada, the living-cost figure plus tuition and travel.
- Book the medical test if your country requires it (the UK does for applicants from India).
- Apply for the visa within the allowed window and pay the fee and any health surcharge.
- Attend biometrics or the interview.
- After the decision, confirm accommodation, pay the balance of fees as the university’s schedule requires, and book flights.
Doing step 6 before step 5 is the most common and most expensive mistake: students apply with a CAS that lists no deposit and then have to show the full fee in cash.
When things change
- Deferring: the university withdraws the CAS or CoE and issues a new one for the next intake; your deposit usually carries over, but confirm in writing.
- A condition you cannot meet: ask the admissions office for alternatives before the deadline. Pre-sessional English courses, a resit, or a different start date are common answers.
- A better offer arrives after you paid: read the first university’s refund policy; expect to lose the deposit; decide on the course, not on the sunk cost.
- An error in the visa document: never apply with it. A corrected CAS takes a day; a refusal takes months.
What to do next
If you have an offer in your inbox and are not sure what to do first, send it to us and we will map the steps and dates for you. Start your application. Bihar Scholars’ guidance is free for students.