Expired or withdrawn CAS

What a CAS is and why its status matters

A Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is an electronic record created by your licensed student sponsor on the Home Office sponsorship system. It is not a document you hold; it is a reference number linked to a live record that UK Visas and Immigration checks against the Immigration Rules when it decides your Student route application. Because the CAS record can change status, its condition on the date you apply and on the date the application is decided directly affects whether your application can succeed. The relevant requirements are in Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules, in particular the CAS requirement at ST 7.

If your CAS has expired

A CAS is normally valid for six months from the date your sponsor assigns it. The critical question is the position on the date you make your application, not the date it is decided.

If you apply before the CAS expires, the caseworker can still rely on it even if the CAS checking system later shows it as expired by the time they process the case. The caseworker guidance confirms that where the system shows a CAS as expired, the caseworker may still mark it as used and consider the application, provided the CAS had not expired on or before the date of application and it meets the other requirements of ST 7.

If the CAS had already expired on or before the date you applied, it cannot be relied on. In that situation you would not meet the CAS requirement and the application would be refused. The practical solution is to ask your sponsor to assign a fresh CAS and then submit a new application relying on the new CAS.

If your CAS has already been used

Whether a used CAS is fatal depends on what happened in the earlier application.

Under ST 7.2, a CAS must not have been used in a previous application that was either granted or refused. So if you already used this CAS in an application that was decided one way or the other, you cannot use the same CAS again. You would need a new CAS from your sponsor.

However, the rule expressly allows a CAS to be relied on again if the previous application was rejected as invalid, made void, or withdrawn. In those cases the CAS is not treated as having been genuinely used to reach a decision, so the same CAS can still support a fresh application, assuming it remains otherwise valid, for example not expired and issued by a sponsor whose licence is still valid.

This is why the exact fate of the earlier application matters. There is a real difference between an application that was refused, which locks the CAS, and one that was rejected as invalid or withdrawn before a substantive decision, which does not. If you are unsure which category your earlier application fell into, check the decision correspondence carefully, because it determines whether you need a new CAS.

If your CAS is marked as withdrawn

A CAS shown as withdrawn has generally been cancelled by the sponsor on the sponsorship system, or has been affected by action against the sponsor. A withdrawn CAS cannot be used to meet the CAS requirement, and if you apply relying on it the application is at serious risk of refusal.

Before assuming any wrongdoing, it is worth understanding that a withdrawal usually has an ordinary administrative or contractual explanation rather than anything sinister. Common reasons include the sponsor reissuing a corrected CAS to fix an error in the details, a change to your course, start date or fees, unpaid deposit or tuition fees, a condition of the offer not being met, or the sponsor needing to update information. In many of these cases the sponsor simply issues a replacement CAS.

The most important step is to contact the institution’s admissions or international student office immediately to establish why the CAS was withdrawn and whether they will assign a new one. If a new CAS is issued you can apply on that basis. If the sponsor is unwilling to reissue, you need to resolve the underlying issue, for example an outstanding payment or an unmet offer condition, before they will act.

A different and more serious situation arises if the sponsor’s licence itself has been suspended or revoked, because ST 7.1 requires the CAS to have been issued by a sponsor whose licence is still valid on the date the application is decided. If your sponsor loses its licence, the Home Office has established processes to allow affected students a period to find a new sponsor and CAS. That is a separate scenario from an individual CAS being withdrawn, but the withdrawal of your CAS could sometimes be a symptom of sponsor-level problems, so it is worth clarifying which it is.

Key facts that change the outcome

The right course of action depends on details that are not yet clear from your question. It would help to know the exact date the CAS was assigned and its expiry date, whether you have already submitted an application using it and, if so, whether that application was granted, refused, rejected as invalid, made void, or withdrawn, and the reason given by the sponsor for any withdrawal. It also matters whether your sponsor’s licence remains valid. Each of these points can move the answer between straightforward reuse of the existing CAS and a need for an entirely new one.

Practical next steps

1. Check the current status and dates on your CAS statement and any Home Office correspondence about earlier applications, so you know precisely which scenario applies.

2. Contact your sponsor’s admissions or international student team without delay to confirm the CAS status, the reason for any withdrawal, and whether they will assign a replacement. This is almost always the fastest route to a solution.

3. Resolve any underlying cause, such as an unpaid deposit, missing document, or unmet offer condition, so the sponsor is able to reissue.

4. Do not submit or resubmit an application relying on a CAS that has expired on or before the date of application, that was already used in a granted or refused application, or that is marked as withdrawn, because refusal is likely and application fees are generally not refunded on refusal.

5. Once a valid CAS is in place, apply within its validity period and make sure all the other Appendix Student requirements, including the financial and English language requirements, are met at the date of application.

6. If the problem stems from your sponsor losing its licence rather than an individual CAS issue, ask the Home Office and the institution about the process and time allowed to obtain a new CAS from a different licensed sponsor.

If you can tell me the CAS dates, what happened to any earlier application, and the reason your sponsor gave for the withdrawal, I can give you a more precise assessment of whether you can reuse the CAS or need a new one.