Student visa question, among other things

Hi everyone.

(Posted here a while back about getting into the UK after having spent a semester abroad there, in case anyone remembers, I did get through immigration with no problems. Manchester's immigration officers are much nicer than those in London.)

Anyway, as I'm still fairly new here, I have another question.

I'm planning to attend Leeds (where I spent a semester abroad in 2004) for my MA in Medieval Studies, and I've sent in my application already. I'm not too concerned about getting in, as I've maintained contact with people in the department there, and they've said they'd love to have me. Funding's a whole 'nother ball o' wax, but if I don't get any of the scholarships I've paid for, I should be able to cover it with loans (as little as I'd like to).

Guess that was a bit of a ramble. On to my actual question:  When should I apply for my student visa? I should be hearing from Leeds officially within the next few weeks, so should this be an ASAP sort of deal? If so, could anyone please point me toward some helpful links about going through the process? I feel sort of spoiled for choice; there are so many sites out there that I don't really even know where to begin. (In case you're wondering, I was able to study abroad on a tourist visa, as I was only there for 4.5 months.)  

And another thing: I'm involved in a very serious relationship with a lovely gentleman from the Isle of Man whom I met during my semester abroad. We've been discussing the whole immigration thing, and we've assumed that the IOM's immigration policies are the same as the rest of the Isles. Are we mistaken here? It's looking like I'll be going home to the States at the end of my master's degree in the summer of 2006, the two of us will be apart for a year (for several practical reasons) and we'll get engaged sometime in 2007. Do we need to go through the fiance visa process, or can we hop straight to the marriage visa? I'd prefer not to sit around the house doing nothing for six months because I can't apply for a job, but if that's the way it's got to be, then that's the way it's got to be.

Hi almariel!

IofM has its own immigration policies but they are administered by UK visa issuing posts so you would deal with your nearest British Consulate.  You need a work permit to work there, details are here:

http://www.gov.im/dti/employmentRights/workpermits.xml

and I also found this:

http://www.gov.im/Isleofman/Residency.xml#Foreign

Good luck!

Liz

I have a student visa and you'll need to send in your formal acceptance letter from your uni to the Consulate.  I didn't apply for my visa until about 2 months before I planned to leave because it took forever to get some of my supporting documents.  You will also have to provide proof of payment of fees either thru loan docs or bank statements.  My visa was also granted for longer than my actual course.  I'm in a one year course but my visa is valid for 18 months.  I have no idea why they did this.

I did my application to the LA Consulate via e-fasttrack.  I then just mailed my support docs and got my visa in 12 working days.  http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/ is the link for fasttrack.

From that same site:

You will need to supply all of the following in original form or as certified copies:

Your passport (note: It must be the original document and have ample validity)
Evidence of your Immigration Status in the USA (not applicable for US passport holders)
Two photographs (passport size)
Any relevant diplomas or educational certificates which you hold (transcripts from my uni were sufficient)
A letter from the University, College or School confirming your acceptance for the course of study in the UK* and a statement of charges for the course
Evidence of Government sponsorship (if appropriate)
Evidence of funds (ie Bank Statement)
To qualify for admission as a student, a person must:

Have been accepted for a course of study in a bona fide private education institution (with properly maintained enrolment and attendance records), or an independent fee paying school outside the maintained sector, or a publicly funded institution of further/higher education*;

Be able, and intend, to follow either a weekday full-time course attending a single institution for at least 15 hours of organized daytime study per week of a single subject(or directly related subjects), or a full-time course of study at an independent fee paying school, or recognized full-time degree course at a publicly funded institution of further/higher education;

(if under 16yrs) be enrolled at an independent fee paying school on a full-time course of studies which meets the requirements of the Education Act 1944;

be able to meet the costs of the course, accommodation and maintenance (including for dependents) without taking employment or engaging in business or having recourse to public funds;

not intend to take employment or engage in business, except part-time or vacation work when given permission by the Department for Education and Employment, except see below “ Employment during periods of Study”;

intend to leave the United Kingdom on completion of studies.

Kristi: I assume that I essentially have to wait until my finances come through to start the process, then?

I've applied for a few scholarships as well; I wonder how that might change the process. There's one at Leeds I've applied to worth $2600, as well as some more substantial ones. I won't be hearing about decisions on those until the summer, do you think that's enough time to leave for a visa application (I'll know for sure about everything by July, is that too late)?

Aside from the documents confirming funding, that sounds very similar to what I needed to study abroad: proof of acceptance, passport, transcript, etc. That's handy to know that the visa extends longer than 9 months; I was under the impression that it was only for an academic year, not a calendar year. This would have been a problem for me as Leeds' program is 12 months long.

Liz:

Thanks for the warm welcome! Please, call me Mari.   The immigration processes look pretty similar; so as I understand it, when we get married, I will apply for Manx citizenship through a British consulate as technicially the IOM isn't part of the UK? It's so confusing; Anthony (the love of my life ) has British Citizen on his passport, and yet he's not a citizen of the UK; but he can live and work there. Man, getting into the "mainland" is confusing enough, leave it to me to fall in love with a man from an even smaller island!

Scholarships shouldn't have any impact on your visa issue.  Basically, you'll have to prove you can support yourself the entire time you're here, as you have no recourse to public funds.  Depending on when your program starts, July shouldn't be too late to apply.  My course didn't begin until October but I wanted to get over here sooner.

Your visa will last as long as your program so if you were going into a 2 year program, you'd get a 2 year visa.  Your visa application asks how long your program is.

Hi Mari, you already know me from another list, I'm purplelizzy

It is confusing but yes, my understanding is, you will be applying to live in the IOM rather than mainland UK.  I am not sure whether an IOM citizen can sponsor you to live and work in mainland UK, I've tried to get into the IND website to check but there seems to be something wrong with it at the moment and I can't get in. The link is www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk or your best bet might be to call your nearest British consulate for advice.

Why yes, I do know you! I'm not sure how much of an issue it will be; his mother is from Liverpool, so I suppose that "technically" that might make him "English." He's had no trouble living/working there, so I'm really hoping that I won't either.

I assume that I essentially have to wait until my finances come through to start the process, then?

When I went to uni in the UK, it was pre-visa requirement, but I was concerned because my student loan company had not yet released my funds, as I needed to sign the check that they'd sent to my uni.  I called the British consulate, and they said that as long as I had a letter from my student verifying that I'd been approved for X amount of loans, and when they were due to be disbursed, that would be sufficient. 

If you are lucky enough to get scholarships, then you'll just need to present the award letters when you make your visa application. 

Thanks. I stand a fair shot at getting one worth $2600; it may not be much but at least it will help with living expenses. I guess I can't really do much at the moment though; my W-2's haven't come in yet, and I can't do the FAFSA until I have the W-2.

I loathe paperwork with the passion of a thousand suns.

I will be studying at Leeds, just got my acceptance notice. I will be going through the lovely FAFSA process shortly. I'm not looking forward to it. I am applying for my loans and once I am approved, even if I may get a scholarship later, I am using my loans for my visa app. If I happen to get the scholarship before I apply for my student visa, then I will use that evidence. Basically, you can always cancel loans (little or no penalty) and it's always better to have too much funding than too little. Good luck!