When did you apply for your student visa?

So, I'm getting really antsy to have things set in stone....like buy plane tickets and stuff. I was all ready to apply for my visa next week when the boys passports come back. (we applied in Feb but thanks to the new North American border crossing rules and summer travel they are taking 10 plus weeks)

The britainusa.com website states that you can apply 3 months prior to your classes beginning and the visa will be valid up to one month before classes beginning.

When did you apply?

When should I apply? My offer letter states that my classes begin in late September. (vague much?)

I was hoping to be there in beginning of August, but now I'm thinking that will be end of August.

I'd love to hear your stories!

I did I read from one of your other posts that you'll be at Bournemouth University? I've had a quick look on their site - your classes will start on October 2nd, but the week before that is Fresher's Week (like orientation) and you will probably be required to attend certain activities for new international students(http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/international/pre_arrival_students/isop.html).

I don't how how long the UK student visas take to process in the US, but when I got my US study abroad visa, the whole process took months - I booked the visa interview as soon as the necessary paperwork arrived from the university (early April), but the waiting list was over 2 months, so I didn't get an appointment until July. I eventually received my visa in mid-July and I had to leave for the US on 18th August. I couldn't buy any plane tickets until the visa had come through and until I had confirmation of a place in on-campus accomodation (if I didn't get a place, I'd have to leave earlier to find accomodation), so I was unable to book the flights until 2 weeks before I left!

If the US system is anything like the UK one, I'd apply as soon as you are allowed to.

Thankfully, the UK visa system is much less painful than the US system!  Visas take around 1-2 weeks to process by post, or same day in person. I had my passport with student visa in my hand eight days after sending the application off via overnight mail.

I applied for my student visa in early August, but that's because I didn't have a choice- I didn't have all of my letters from loan companies until August 1st.  I left for the UK on September 8th (I booked my flights before I applied for the visa, in June.  Not especially recommended as that's a bit of a gamble, but I really didn't have the funds to pay last-minute prices on a plane ticket.)

If you want to leave in August, then you can apply in May....the official guidelines do state you can only arrive up to one month in advance, but in practice (based on anecdotal evidence from this forum) the consulates in the US don't necessarily stick to that rule 100%.  But if you want to be sure, applying in late May for a late August departure should be just fine, as long as all your evidence is in order.

Andrea, you're awesome. I knew I'd great advice. It's so helpful to have people who have gone through it all before.

KSand, I am going to Bournemouth for grad school! (the Radio program go figure!) I know there is an international student week in September which is supposed to be super helpful in setting up bank accts, etc.

After talking to the DH we decided that leaving end of Aug is better, I mean we'll be able to save more money. I am very anxious and since we're moving the whole family I wanted to get DS in school on time.

As usual, I'm sure my plans and timeline will change several times over.

I just wanted to do a little happy dance because I got my passport! YAY! Now I have to figure out how/when to apply for my student visa also.

PS: Does anyone think it matters that they put a space between my middle name? It's LeAnne but they put Le Anne. Think it matters?

I'm getting ready to start this process as my loan papers are just days (hopefully) away from being signed.

What kind of information do I need to take with me to the interview?
If I'm planning to leave mid to late Sept., should I make an appointment now?

thanks.

A reassurance story for anyone applying for a student visa...


I sent in my online application months before I was due to be in the UK. However, because of an INFURIATING mess up by SallieMae (evil wenches of doom) I didn't get my student loan confirmation until september, two weeks before I was due to fly to the UK.

I sent all of my stuff to the consolate overnight express w/ a cover letter apologizing for the delay and letting them know the need to expedite the process. The next day I had an email confirmation that they had it. Four days later I had an email confirmation that I'd been approved. And the next day the beautiful fed-ex van arrived with my visa (with visa inside) and all of my supporting documents returned.

I don't recommend this at all. I have had three gray hairs streaking from the front of my forhead ever since this (for real). But if push comes to shove, you can send your application pretty close to the fly-by date.

From my experience, if your case is straightforward, I think a month is a good amount of cushion time.

I sent in my online application months before I was due to be in the UK. However, because of an INFURIATING mess up by SallieMae (evil wenches of doom) I didn't get my student loan confirmation until september, two weeks before I was due to fly to the UK.

 

I'm going through SallieMae! I hope this doesn't happen to me too!

The problem was more with my university. They filled out the forms wrong and SallieMae never bothered to contact me about it. So, when I called to see how things were going with the loan (as time was getting on) they told me I didn't qualify.

Had to refile for the whole thing, holding the universities hand.

My advice, just check in with both of them. Dont assume that no news is good news. Once I was more involved, (just a few pointed calls and emails) things got done really fast. If your university is used to dealing w/ SallieMae, it should be fine.

Lame! I applied at first and was denied credit approval. I couldn't understand why, because I have really good, well established credit. Turns out, because I had applied as "first year freshman" even though I'm more like a 3rd year freshman, I got automatically denied because they always deny first year freshman without a cosigner.

I canceled that application and reapplied as a sophomore and was approved like that. Right now I'm sorta waiting for transcripts to transfer from my community college to my home university so my fafsa can be adjusted and my funding increased to the sophomore allotment, and then my home uni can certify my SallieMae loan amount, then Sallie Mae can approve it. 

I've been very hardcore about annoying every adviser I can though, so hopefully I won't get into a tight spot.

If you have any problems, I'd suggest calling Sallie Mae every few weeks until they fix it.  I have had most of my loans serviced by them, and they are absolutely the worst company I have ever dealt with.  Their customer service is atrocious and seemingly half staffed with the most ignorant people in the country (ever heard of England, people?  How about New Mexico?).  I never got the same answer twice, even when talking to supervisors, and they are really bad at answering correspondence. 

Thankfully everything worked out in the end, but the first year I was here they kept trying to process my application with Duke University in North Carolina (because I am at Durham and that confused them, I guess).  Last year they needed to get some kind of confirmation or other from the University but said that they couldn't contact them because of the time difference! (Hello?  What kind of international company hasn't figured out when to call during overlapping business hours?  Better yet, what about a freakin' letter?)

I think the University must have sorted something out with them, because this year it was perfectly easy and smooth.  I even got approved for one of the new Grad Plus loans without any hitches at all.  Now all I have to worry about is them deciding that being a student overseas does not qualify for deferral...

"Sallie Mae sounds like a naive and barefoot hillbilly girl but in fact they are a ruthless and aggressive conglomeration of bullies located in a tall brick building somewhere in Kansas. I picture it to be the tallest building in that state and I have decided they hire their employees straight out of prison. It scares me."
-David Sedaris, "The Santaland Diaries"

David Sedaris is my hero. If you haven't yet, pick up some of his essays. Better yet, download him reading them from itunes. You'll be laughing for days.

LOL! I think I will!

Here's my experience applying for my student visa.

I submitted the application online on 24 May but later realized that I should have waited until June since apparantly you can only apply 3 months prior to when you want to arrive. So I waited until June to actually mail off the application and supporting documents. It was mailed on 5 June USPS Priority Mail, UK VISA emailed me on 7 Jun to confirm that it had been received, UK VISA emailed me on 8 June to confirm that my application was approved and the visa was issued and the FedEx envelope with my passport, visa and supporting documents arrived on 11 June. It was a surprisingly quick and painless experience.

They've changed the student visa sticker since I last applied for one in 2004; it has my picture and nationality on it now. Also, I didn't book plane tickets prior to submitting the application so I didn't have an exact date in mind for when I wanted to enter. I just knew that orientation was in late September and I wanted to be there a few days before that to sort out accommodation. I ended up putting in 19 September as a date and that is actually the date the visa is valid from.

I do have one potential concern and that has to do with graduation. My course is due to end in September '08 but graduation isn't until July '09. My student visa ends on 28 February '09. I plan on applying for the International Graduates Scheme (IGS) once my course is over so I should be there in July anyway but if for some reason I don't apply for IGS or get rejected it could cause a problem, but I'll deal with that if and when.

I'm pretty sure you can just have it renewed while you're in the UK. I'm not sure... I don't see why they wouldn't, though.