Planning to Study in UK? Here's All You Need to Know About UK Visa

United Kingdom is popular among international students. The flexible academic structure, the international recognition, and the multicultural environment top the list of the reasons to study in UK. Studying in UK enhances your resume and opens wide opportunities all over the world to build an excellent career. If you want to attend a university in UK, you will require a student visa. In this article, we will guide you through the 5 steps for the student visa application process for UK.

How to get Student Visa for UK

1. Apply and get your admission letter from University in UK

You will have to decide and apply for admissions in one of the universities in the UK before you can start your student visa application process. After being accepted at a university, you will obtain an acceptance letter. This acceptance letter will help you to move forward in the student visa application process. Here we have mentioned some of the top universities in UK

• University of Oxford
• University of Cambridge
• Imperial College London
• UCL (University College London)
• University of Edinburgh
• The University of Manchester
• King’s College London (KCL)
• London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
• University of Bristol
• The University of Warwick

2. Check out what type of visa you need to study in the UK

There are 2 types of student visas for which you can apply according to the duration and course of your studies in the UK. These 2 types of visas are:

• Short-Term Study Visa (available for 6 or 11 months) –  If you plan to study a short language course or take up a short period of research as part of a degree program.
• Tier 4 (General) Student Visa – If you enroll in an academic degree (Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. course). The Tier 4 Student Visa doesn't have a fixed period of validity. It depends on the length of your studies in UK

3. Apply for a student visa in the UK

You can apply up to 3 months before your expected date of travel to the UK. There are 2 options for applying for your student visa in the UK. You can apply for a UK student visa at the nearest UK embassy in your country or you can do it online. For an online application, you must apply using the British Government’s official Gov.UK website.

Conditions need to be fulfilled to receive a Tier 4 visa

• Be over 16 years old
• Speak, read, and understand English
• Have sufficient money to support yourself during studies
• Have an acceptance letter from a licensed university in the UK

Documents required for a UK student visa

• Completed visa application form
•  Current passport
•  Academic records and transcripts as mentioned in the CAS form
•  English language proficiency test mentioned in the CAS form (IELTS, TOEFL etc)
• Two passport-sized photograph
• Financial availability proof to prove that you can support yourself while your stay in the UK for studies
• Original birth certificate (with translation for non-English document)
• Tuberculosis test results from a TB Test Centre(UKVI)
• Proof of paying the visa application fee
•  Receipt of immigration health surcharge payments form
• Self-assessment form Appendix 8 with attached documents.
• Other requirements depending on your country of origin

4. Undertake an interview

In the interview, the applicants are asked several questions about their choice of course and future career plans. You should be very clear about your thoughts and must be able to convince the interviewers about your choice of studying in the UK. Here are some examples of Interview questions asked:

• State the reasons for choosing the UK for your higher studies? 
• Have you visited the UK before? 
• Why did you select this specific college/university? 
• How are you going to cover your fees and living expenses in the UK? 
• How will the course help you with your career?

5. Biometric residence permit

As part of your application, you must also get your biometric residence permit (BRP) from United Kingdom Visa and Immigration (UKVI). You will need to book an appointment with UKVI to have your Biometrics. Your fingers and thumbs will be scanned and a digital photo will be taken of your face.

Financial requirements to show for UK Student Visa

As mentioned, you are required to provide evidence in your visa application of funding to pay for your tuition fees, course, and monthly accommodation expenses while you stay in the UK. The overall amount of funding you are required to demonstrate depends upon the category you are applying under, the duration of your course, university, and your living arrangements in the UK. At the time of visa application, you must show that you have enough funding to cover the course fees and living costs in UK

As evidence of available funds, you can submit one of the following:

• Cash funds in savings or current bank.
• received official financial sponsorship
• A loan letter
• Official financial sponsorship letter 

Student Visa UK Cost

It costs £348 to apply for a student visa application from outside the United Kingdom. If you want to extend or switch to a Student visa from inside the UK, you need to pay £475. To know more about the cost, you should check this out:  Cost of studying in UK

UK Student Visa: Processing Time & Priority Service

The whole process of UK Visa application processing takes about 3 weeks(Note- 1 week is 5 working days). However, if you want to get the Tier 4 student visa decision on priority, you can avail of the special services available. There are two priority visa collection services available, for which you will require to pay some extra fee. For more details, you can contact the visa application center.

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