Advice for Academic Visitors to the Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science regularly accommodates visitors from all over the world, enabling research groups to leverage the skills of others and develop valuable collaborative activity with other institutions.

Visits are arranged through a departmental academic sponsor. Once you and your host have agreed in principle to a visit, your host must submit a visitor request form to the department. This request will be reviewed and assessed against our eligibility criteria. Submitting a request does not guarantee approval. Please wait for confirmation from the department before making any visa or travel arrangements.

Eligibility

The department primarily hosts academics and researchers from other institutions or organisations. Examples of eligible visitors include:

• A senior academic undertaking independent research, not employed on a department-funded project (sabbatical)
• An academic collaborator contributing to an Oxford-hosted research project (collaborative research)
• A researcher employed by another university or commercial organisation engaging in either independent or collaborative research with the Department of Computer Science
• A postgraduate student from another institution coming to carry out a short piece of research relevant to their course overseas

We are unable to accept undergraduate visitors, interns, or those on work placements, and we do not accept MSc or PhD students for periods longer than three months.

• Undergraduates can use the visiting student route which is arranged through college
• Post-Graduate students wishing to arrange visits longer than 3 months should use the recognised student route.

Visa and Immigration Regulations

All visitors must enter under an appropriate visa route that reflects the nature and purpose of the visit. For most academic visitors, this will be an Academic Standard Visitor visa, or a Tier 5 visa for externally funded, longer-term collaboration. Tourist visas are not permitted for visits involving research or business activities.

Visa nationals must apply in advance, while non-visa nationals (including EU) may not need to apply beforehand. You must still meet the eligibility requirements of the appropriate route and may require an ETA to travel.

As Computer Science is classified as a sensitive technology-related field by the UK government, many visitors undertaking research at PhD level or above will require ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance prior to their arrival. Please check if you need ATAS in advance of arranging your visit.

This is a legal requirement for visa compliance and can take several months to process. If ATAS applies, your host and our team will support you through the necessary steps.

Fees

There are costs associated with hosting visitors such as the provision of space and IT facilities. The department charges a one-off administrative fee of £150 to cover administrative work required to process visitors, including document checks, visa compliance, and IT setup. In addition, a monthly bench fee of £200 applies to cover the overall cost of hosting and includes facility-related expenses such as space charges and utilities, as well as IT and administrative support.

Deadlines

To ensure all immigration checks and administrative steps can be completed, visitor requests must be submitted by the following deadlines:

• For UK/Irish citizens, EU nationals, and other non-visa nationals visiting for up to six months requests must be submitted at least one month in advance.
• For all other visitors, including those from outside the EU or visiting for longer than six months requests must be submitted at least three months in advance.

It is important that you engage with your host well in advance to allow enough time for the submission of the visitor request.