Student Visa Help (was: Should I Apply)

hello!

i was DEPORTED!! FOr not having my student visa to the UK... I had all my supporting documentation but twas not enough to discourage them treating me like a felon...
-im a u.s. citizen-

my question is: ....

is Financial Aid considered good enough for financial support?? (tuition/accomodation)
my dad is hesitant to send in his statements as he feels they'd reversely cancel my fedaid eligibility due to his bank balance.

guess i will have to expedite via chicago online as I initially planned on driving down there... my classes supposedly started 9/22 but registration ends 10/03 ... also do i have to have already purchased my ticket?? (another one)
other questions i cant think of right now but please advise!!
i am scared i'll be rejected again after going through the whole heathrow ordeal

Slow down.

You were not deported, but you may have been removed.

Are you coming to the UK to study?  If so, for how long?  Can you tell us what happened and what papers you were issued with?

Vicky

N.B.  Mods...can you please start this as a new topic?

A few questions...

1. What type of program are you entering here (is it study abroad or are you enrolling for a full degree program at a university here)?

2. Did you have any kind of visa when you arrived at Heathrow?

3. What proof of financial aid do you have? (loan approvals? scholarships? something else?)

As Vicky said, tell us what happened and in detail. We can only help if we know the entire situation.

-im a u.s. citizen-

Relevance?

Relevance?

Well, actually, in the grand scheme of things, it is relevant. For people to offer the OP advice, they will need to know whether the issue comes from a visa or non-visa national.

As many people post on here who aren't USC's and ask similar questions, it is good to clarify that from the start.

Maybe that's not why the OP stated it, but for you to just post asking the relevance of such a statement is even stranger. What's the relevance of your post to the thread?

jen,,, LOLLLLL!!!
Yes that was why I stated it, as my understanding from my prior visits to the UK was that as a USC, a visa was not required for up to 3mos.

To answer your questions, I had a conditional offer for a MSc degree which is a year long course. I had the requirements to fulfill the conditions on me... grades and a reference letter.. the other reference letter was sent directly to my school by the director of my former program., I had his email stating thus on me as well [which was not reviewed]

The primary concern of immigrations was my lack of visa which my school stated in their literature could not be applied for with a cond. offer.. being that I was a USC I thought I could explain that clause, be allowed in under my 3mos 'friendly country' allowance, and be able to apply for the visa once I showed my school the documents... immgrations stated I cant apply while in their country for the visa , and went on a morbid attempt to chastise me considering my financial plight and so forth.... all this because ive tried to do things on my own without parents

Well, actually, in the grand scheme of things, it is relevant. For people to offer the OP advice, they will need to know whether the issue comes from a visa or non-visa national.

As many people post on here who aren't USC's and ask similar questions, it is good to clarify that from the start.

Maybe that's not why the OP stated it, but for you to just post asking the relevance of such a statement is even stranger. What's the relevance of your post to the thread?

Slow down.

You were not deported, but you may have been removed.

Are you coming to the UK to study?  If so, for how long?  Can you tell us what happened and what papers you were issued with?

Vicky

N.B.  Mods...can you please start this as a new topic?

I do not have the official papers on me, but I was removed under the immigration statute 16 sect. 2 or something like that, basically not having the proper entry clearance (visa)

I am coming for a one year masters program, was detained 18hours, photographed and thumbprinted then sent back with no connection to my final destination (which is not relevant at this time, for info purposes only)

A few questions...

1. What type of program are you entering here (is it study abroad or are you enrolling for a full degree program at a university here)?

2. Did you have any kind of visa when you arrived at Heathrow?

3. What proof of financial aid do you have? (loan approvals? scholarships? something else?)

As Vicky said, tell us what happened and in detail. We can only help if we know the entire situation.

It is not study abroad/exchange,
I had no visa as the information I read prior to coming stated I couldnt apply with a conditional offer.
Fin. aid proof is my application status indicating 'eligible' and the loan statements I have received through my previous course in August this year.
The loan package is prepared 'after' you have registered and the school sends in the course/tuition fees. im apprehensive to begin registration as next friday is the cutoff and im not certain the visa will be complete by then, im going to submit an expedited app.

A few things that are big red flags to me...

1. The conditional offer. To get a visa you need (correct me if I'm wrong, Vicky) an unconditional offer.

2. If the program is a year, you need a full student visa, not a student visitor visa.

3. To get the visa, you'll need to prove financial stability. This can be through student loans, but you'll need proof of approval, and it helps to have a chunk of money in your bank account to cover the time between when you land and when the money becomes available to you (usually about 3 or 4 weeks after the funds are disbursed from the US-based lender).

Once you have an unconditional offer (if it's a matter of grades and references, it's best just to handle this all by post), you'll accept it and apply for the loans. Once it's all approved, and you have documents saying that you'll have $XX,XXX loaned to you, and a schedule of fees from the university (basically saying how much of that loan money they'll be taking), you'll have a pretty easy application.

The basic problem with what you did is that you can't convert to a student visa in-country. You were trying to come on a visitor's visa, get the unconditional offer, and then suddenly have a student visa. Doesn't work that way... you have to get the visa from your home country and then enter on it. Because you showed intent to stay for the full year, it's no wonder they bounced you. (The visitor's visa would only allow you in for 6 months.)

With the biometrics requirements (which I'm guessing you haven't done yet), it's very unlikely that you'll have a visa sorted by next Friday, especially if you don't have financial aid and unconditional offer in hand.

Get the paperwork in order, submit the visa, and (I'd guess) plan on a January start.

Absolutey.  You tried to enter the UK as a student, without a student visa.  it was always going to fail.  Just make the student visa application from the US.

Vicky

Good info.
I had pretty much just rounded this up with my father today.. regarding a January start.
During my detention they did [what I believe to be] biometrics on me- fingerprints, pics et al,, is that what they would use or would I have to go do this on my own somewhere else again??

My other issue is with the financial aid as they do not offer/approve it to you without first registering with an academic institution, who then forwards the costs through their aid office and Then you sign the paperwork.
I will go ahead and send in my conditionals to the school and see if im still interested in moving forward as the hassle is becoming a bit daunting.

With the biometrics requirements (which I'm guessing you haven't done yet), it's very unlikely that you'll have a visa sorted by next Friday, especially if you don't have financial aid and unconditional offer in hand.

Get the paperwork in order, submit the visa, and (I'd guess) plan on a January start.

You would have to do biometrics in the US when you apply.

Vicky

As Vicky said, the biometrics are part of the visa application and would be done in the US. What they did at Heathrow was completely unrelated.

I understand that you have to register to get the financial aid (with my university it was just a matter of sending back the unconditional offer with a signature, saying that I had accepted their offer). That's a very simple thing to do and, if you're coming over to be a student, is something you're going to do anyway. I don't see what the problem is on that one.

Get an unconditional offer from the school. You can't do anything without that.

Next, accept the offer, which will allow you to begin the financing process. You won't actually have the money until you start school, but you will have an approval letter from a lender stating exactly how much money you'll be getting. (Just being 'eligible' isn't enough; you need to show exactly how much you will definitely be getting.)

Then, get your visa. (You can actually start on this while getting the funding worked out because there will be a wait for the biometrics appointment, which will take place before the visa application is submitted.)

It's not actually a long process, but you should get started now just in case mail gets delayed or something gets held up for whatever reason.

thanks for your encouragment