Tier 4 maintenance fees

I have a further question about maintenance fees for Tier 4. I noticed on the self assessment appendix that it asked me to total the maintenance fees for my course duration, which is 12 months. Do I have to have the total--tuition + maintenance fees for 12 months for myself and my wife--or do they just want proof of maintenance fees and tuition for the maximum of 9 months--again, for my self and my wife ? I was wondering whether I should take out another loan, or get a few extra thousand before I apply for the visa. I took out loans early, early on in the year, and while it was enough than, it's starting to get squeezed with the dollar falling against the pound. I still have the required amount for 9 months maintenance fees and tuition, but I'm worried about being rejected for a visa, after putting a deposit down on accommodation already, and making so many moving preparations.

If you don't mind my asking, what kind of loans did you get?  I had the same worries, but I talked to the loan company and my school's registry and they both said that if the exchange rate goes crazy then my GraduatePLUS loan can easily be adjusted to suit the changes.  I'm going to include the e-mail from the lady at the registry with my application, just in case the person processing my visa app is not aware that loan amounts can be changed.  I'm paranoid that I'll get rejected for something like that too!

Hi Thorfinn,

Have you checked out the Tier 4 Guidance doc? It can be found here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/pbs/Tier4migrantguidance.pdf?

If you refer to page 24 (25 on the PDF), it states that you'll need to prove maintenance  for the 1st Year of fees + £7200 to cover living for nine months in the UK (Inner London) or £5400 to cover living for nine months in the UK (Outer London or elsewhere in the UK). Of course you'll also have to add dependent maintenance to that...

Also, right below that (101.):

If you have already paid some of your fees or accommodation before applying for your visa, this amount will be taken away from the total amount of money you need to show. For accommodation, this only applies if you are staying in university or college arranged accommodation.

Regarding taking out extra in loans: I've never done it myself, but I think that you could apply for more and choose to cancel whatever portion you don't want to use without penalty. I'm sure there is a specific schedule for this (maybe 30 days prior to disbursement, or something like that). I wonder if something like that would help to make you feel more confident with your application?

cg731: Wow, could you please post that when it's available? That's pretty amazing, thanks.

cg731: Wow, could you please post that when it's available? That's pretty amazing, thanks.

I can't say that it works this way for all loans or all loan companies, but as far as my situation is concerned, my GraduatePLUS loan can be adjusted.  Stafford loans are at a fixed maximum so there is no chance of increasing the amount of a stafford loan.

She said "Panic not.  As everything is online with Sallie Mae it is easy to amend the GP loan if required.  Obviously if the exchange rate goes crazy by September we can simply increase the GP amount."

The loan company (Sallie Mae) verified this to me, but it was over the phone, so that is why I am going to include the e-mails with my visa app.  It's probably overkill, and not really necessary, but I'm a worry wart so it's for my own peace of mind.

I have Stafford and a Graduate Plus loan, both through Sallie Mae. I've maxed out the Stafford, and the Grad Plus is 10,000 USD, so after the fees are taken out, I'm looking at USD 29,792, plus our own personal savings--about 5 grand U.S.  I guess I need to email the Registrar at the University of Glasgow, and ask her about the possibility of increasing my GradPlus loan if the exchange rates go haywire, and see if she will write me an email explaining to the Visa people that it can be adjusted upwards if needed. Thanks for the helps and suggestions. I would also like to add, despite that it is off topic and has been addressed in other posts, the necessity of making sure that your visa letter has all the pertinent information on it. I'm waiting on a rectified letter right now, as the first one that I was sent in March did not have the university's sponsor number on it, and was also missing numerous other information that the Tier 4 rules say it's supposed to have.

I have Stafford and a Graduate Plus loan, both through Sallie Mae. I've maxed out the Stafford, and the Grad Plus is 10,000 USD, so after the fees are taken out, I'm looking at USD 29,792, plus our own personal savings--about 5 grand U.S.  I guess I need to email the Registrar at the University of Glasgow, and ask her about the possibility of increasing my GradPlus loan if the exchange rates go haywire, and see if she will write me an email explaining to the Visa people that it can be adjusted upwards if needed. Thanks for the helps and suggestions. I would also like to add, despite that it is off topic and has been addressed in other posts, the necessity of making sure that your visa letter has all the pertinent information on it. I'm waiting on a rectified letter right now, as the first one that I was sent in March did not have the university's sponsor number on it, and was also missing numerous other information that the Tier 4 rules say it's supposed to have.

I'm also going to University of Glasgow and have the same loans for the same exact amounts with the same company, so you should be in the same boat as me.  I would still get that e-mail from the registry though.

I'm also waiting on my visa letter from them.  One of the people from post-grad admissions said they were still waiting to hear about what exactly they needed to have on the letters when they are sent out.  He said they were supposed to have a definitive answer by the week of June 1st, so they're probably getting sent out soon if not already.  He told me when you get it, it should say VISA LETTER across the top and have all the relevant information.

Again, thanks. I've already emailed Debbie Beales, and she's out of the office until the 15th, so I'll just wait on a reply from her and the visa letter. I was thinking about having the Visa's expedited anyway, so I guess it's not that big a deal to wait a few more weeks. I'm shooting for a September 6th entry date, so that should be plenty if time to get everything approved, especially if I have them expedited. I can't thank you enough; this takes a huge load off of my mind. I had this horrible fear of getting accepted to a great program, getting accommodation lined up, and than being stuck in the U.S. because of a declined visas because of lack of funds. After being out of school for three years--while its been an incredible experience with my various jobs--I'm yearning to go back to academia.

I'm glad I could help.  I was having all of the same anxieties so I know just where you're coming from.  I'm also going back after having been out of school for a while, so I can sympathize with looking so forward to this and wanting everything to go well.  Good luck!  Hopefully we'll both be able to ship those visa apps off soon and then move all the worrying over to the "what on earth do I pack?" category.