Help applying for student visa

[levlinm]

Hi ppl,

Has someone on here appllied for a student visa?

Im looking a moving by AUG 2010

i need help with what kind of documentation i need and how do i go about it..

- Will i need to a particular bank balance
- Do i have to be registered with a University before applying
- Instead on University can i join a short term pvt college/insitute
- How long does the process take

i know a lot of info is avaliable on the net but i would like know about someone personal experience...


Thanks in advance =)

[Minuvweyna]

The best advice I can give you is to go through all the information you can find here UK Border Agency | Studying in the United Kingdom

You can get a prospective student visa that allows you to visit the UK in order to apply for a course, but I think most students get just a student visa that requires that you already be accepted for a course.

There are definitely requirements that you show you have sufficient funds. This can be through bank account balances, approved loan statements, scholarship awards, and/or any combination of these. You can work 20 hours a week on a student visa during term time (40/week during school holidays) but unless you have a guaranteed work/study sort of job that can be documented and you know exactly what you will earn, the potential earnings from work cannot be used to show you can support yourself in the UK. So most people will need enough savings/loans/scholarships/help from family to support yourself without working. You obviously have no recourse to public funds, and they want to be sure you won't need them.

You can do courses with colleges, but they are much stricter now about what institutions are approved. They should have a list somewhere, but the institution has to be a REAL higher education body; they had a lot of problems with fake colleges in the past.

The process for getting a visa once you have everything in place isn't that long. Applying for funding/getting money together and applying for a program are likely to take longer than getting the actual visa. My visa application took less than 2 weeks from the date I posted it to come back approved. It can take longer, but it should be reasonably quick. You are in a good position to be thinking about this for next autumn.

You need to tell them where you will be staying. You do not need permanent accommodation worked out before you arrive, but need to at least tell them you have short term accommodation (perhaps with your girlfriend's family or even bed and breakfast reservations) and will then search for permanent living arrangements. I don't know if this applies to your situation, but it's useful for the application.

If you have any more questions about the application as you work along, I'd be happy to help. It's reasonably straightforward, but does take some planning and organizing to be successful.

Good luck!
Elizabeth

[Minuvweyna]

Oh, more information about scholarships can probably best be found through whatever university you choose. Most scholarships have rather early cut off dates, so you will want to be looking at applying as soon as you can. When you contact universities let them know you are interested in applying for scholarships and they should be able to direct you.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

[levlinm]

Hi Elizabeth,
thank you so much for your mail.. its much appriciated ..=) x

[levlinm]

can anyone suggest a few uni's in the UK, that have short term course that would help me apply for the studen visa and also ones the dont cost an arm and a leg..