Loan letter and CAS

I know that for the student visa I'll need a letter of verification from Sallie Mae (though I'm considered low risk, I'm still putting together all my visa documents in a folder in case they're asked for). However, I'm not sure if Sallie Mae gives out letters like that... I do have an original of my application, promissory note, and final disclosure, though. Those state my name, are dated, and contain the sponsor's name and address, the amount of money in the loan, and the length of the loan. Will that be sufficient?

Anyone, anyone? ... Bueller, Bueller?

That should probably be sufficient, but Sallie Mae does do Loan Verification Letters if you call and ask for one to be sent to you.

Contact your international rep at your university.  They should be able to help.  I know that my university is sending me a letter stating that I have a student loan, so that may be the case for you.

Good luck!

Amy

Thanks for the replies! Just contacted Sallie Mae (again) and the supervisor I spoke to claimed that they do not send out loan verification letters. I did ask them for a verification letter before but all that was sent through the mail was my original application instead. All the information is there in the documents I have, I'd just feel better if it was in a letter format.

In other news, did any of you have to wait a long time to receive your CAS number? I still haven't even though I submitted all the documents that the visa team at my uni requested. I'm just nervous and impatient now as it's getting down to the wire- I had hoped to apply for my visa by late July at the very latest, but now it doesn't look like that's going to happen until early August.

Did you send the MPN to Sheffield?

I received my CAS in almost one week. I was surprised at how fast it was!

I'm just nervous and impatient now as it's getting down to the wire- I had hoped to apply for my visa by late July at the very latest, but now it doesn't look like that's going to happen until early August.

Well, you've still got another 2 months before the semester starts, so it's not too late yet... in the past, we've seen people who still had not applied for their visa 2 weeks before school started (with processing times of at least a month back then)!

If you pay for the priority service ($150) when you do apply for the visa, it should be processed within 48 hours.

Or alternatively, if you can get to NYC, you can book a premium in-person appointment for $100, and have your visa processed same-day.

Thanks for the replies! Just contacted Sallie Mae (again) and the supervisor I spoke to claimed that they do not send out loan verification letters. I did ask them for a verification letter before but all that was sent through the mail was my original application instead. All the information is there in the documents I have, I'd just feel better if it was in a letter format.

In other news, did any of you have to wait a long time to receive your CAS number? I still haven't even though I submitted all the documents that the visa team at my uni requested. I'm just nervous and impatient now as it's getting down to the wire- I had hoped to apply for my visa by late July at the very latest, but now it doesn't look like that's going to happen until early August.

Hmm I had Sallie Mae send me out an official loan letter. I had to request by contacting them. I think it wasn't easy, forget now. But they do have them. I think I may have told them my situation (visa application) and that I knew friends who had one sent out (was bluffing). Sure enough I received an official letter headed paper from Sallie Mae.

Did you send the MPN to Sheffield?
I received my CAS in almost one week. I was surprised at how fast it was!

Yes, even my disclosure statement and application too. You're lucky yours came so fast. I sent them all the loan documents last week and then I asked if there were any more documents I needed to provide. I didn't really get a response to that so I took it as a "no"- PBS team only replied that they needed my app number. If I don't hear anything by Monday I'm going to contact them again and see how it's progressing.

Hmm I had Sallie Mae send me out an official loan letter. I had to request by contacting them. I think it wasn't easy, forget now.

Because I haven't provided an official letter, could that be the reason I haven't received my CAS yet? Yeah, customer service is pretty bad with SM. When I've asked to speak to an American representative they claim they cannot connect me, and I've been told by more than one person that they do not provide loan verification letters and they acted like they didn't even know what those were.

When I did my excel worksheet to apply for my loans I saw two sheets at the end that were in the format of he official one the school sends. The first one was saying that I got the Federal Loans and it gave the amount and disbursement date. The second one was saying that I got a Private Loan and it also had amount and disbursement date. Since I did not apply for a private loan at all, I imagine they have a format set up for which ever one you ask for and they just send the one that applies to you. So maybe the letter you need is supposed to come from the university itself? Also, who did you e-mail about your loans? When I e-mailed them to make sure they had all the documents they needed somebody replied pretty quickly.

For PBS, did you do you do the whole online information confirmation thing at shef.ac.uk/pbs? Again, with this all they asked was that I update my transcript. They replied with the CAS number about 2 days later.

The only reason I'm asking you this is to make sure we've gone through the same steps.

I understand that first I need to receive my CAS application e-mail, and I haven't even gotten that yet. Twice last month I received e-mails from PBS apply and PGT fee deposits stating that in order to get my CAS application e-mail then I'd need to provide evidence of financial aid or pay the fee deposit. 9 days ago, after I finally received my loan documents by post, I e-mailed PBS apply, PGT fee deposits, and the US loans department at Sheffield with the uploaded said documents. US loans replied stating that my financial aid was already finalized at Sheffield and that no further action was required from me. Didn't get a response from PGT fee deposits. After a few days of hearing nothing from PBS apply I sent them an e-mail stating that even though I've provided evidence of my financial aid I still have not received my CAS application e-mail, and if any more documents are required to please let me know. Didn't get much of a response from them other than "In order to help me answer your query, can you please reply with your university application number" (looked like an automated message). I did, and I still haven't heard anything. It's making me very nervous. All I can do is keep contacting, I don't like pestering people but...

I'll contact the US loans dept. and ask about the letter. Maybe that's the piece I'm missing. I also got my pre-registration started and I received my international welcome packet in the mail last week. It helps a lot to hear from someone who's going through the same process I am right now.

I find it interesting that they gave you the option of paying a deposit OR submitting proof of financial aid to meet this requirement. They sent me a few e-mails reminding me to pay the deposit, and the only way I was exempt from it was by being sponsored by a government or company; which I'm not.

As far as I know, the only way they'll send you the CAS e-mail is by paying the 1000GBP deposit. Did you request to be exempt from this deposit fee?

Here's a bit from one of the e-mails about the CAS, from PGT fee deposits:
"In your Unconditional offer letter, we asked you to pay a tuition fee deposit of £1000. Before we can apply for your CAS number, we need confirmation that you have paid this deposit.

* If you have paid, please email a copy of the receipt to pgtfeedeposits@sheffield.ac.uk.

* If you are sponsored by a government agency or company and do not need to pay a fee deposit, please email a copy of the letter confirming your sponsorship to pgtfeedeposits@sheffield.ac.uk. Please note that if your sponsor is not recognised by the University of Sheffield (eg a family member), you will still be required to pay the deposit."

For example, if you were paying out of pocket with no form of financial aid at all then you'd be required to pay the fee deposit. But if you're using recognized financial aid, like FAFSA, Sallie Mae, etc. then you don't need to pay the deposit. Didn't you mention that you're using Federal Loans? I would've preferred to use FAFSA myself but my course falls under Medicine and the only form of financial aid I could use with that was Sallie Mae.

Oh no! What that means is that if someone is paying for you to go to school, like a government agency or a company you work for, THEN you don't have to pay. In your case, private loans are considered "self-funding" so you HAVE to pay the deposit or else they won't give you your CAS number.

Oh no! What that means is that if someone is paying for you to go to school, like a government agency or a company you work for, THEN you don't have to pay.

Yes, this is correct.

Everyone has to pay the £1,000 deposit unless either their government (i.e. the US Embassy) or their employer is sponsoring them to get the degree (i.e. some companies will pay for you to get your degree while still working for them).

If you are just using regular federal/student/private loans, then you are considered a self-financed student and so you have to pay the £1,000 deposit... and if you haven't paid it, I suspect this is why you haven't received your CAS yet.

From the University of Sheffield website:

Sponsored Students

If you are expecting an external organisation eg  an Embassy or your employer to pay some or all of your tuition fee and you need the University to send them an invoice, you must send an official letter from your sponsor to the University. This letter, on company-letter headed paper, should confirm your name and Personal ID/Applicant Number, your course of study, the amount which the sponsor is agreeing to pay on your behalf and any reference/award number which they need to be included in the invoice. The letter must also confirm the duration of the sponsorship eg for one year only or the dates of the entire course of study.

You will be sent a link advising you to upload a copy of your sponsor letter as part of your pre-registration actions. Alternatively, you can post  the letter to the Student Fees Team, Registry Services, Firth Court, Western Bank, SHEFFIELD S10 2TN, UK, or attach a copy of the original letter and send by email to studentfees@sheffield.ac.uk

The University is able to consider and approve sponsor letters from most overseas organisations and Embassies. However, if your sponsor is new to the University and your tuition fee is £10000 or more, the University will do a credit reference check on the organisation before your sponsor letter is approved and an invoice is sent to them. Unfortunately, we cannot consider sponsor letters from smaller overseas companies. Therefore, if you are being sponsored by a small or medium sized overseas company, you should either make arrangements with your sponsor to pay you and then you pay the University, (you will be classified as a Self-financed student; an invoice will not be issued) or you should ask your sponsor to make arrangements for the transfer of funds via the relevant Embassy in London, in which case a sponsor letter from the Embassy must be provided.

A sponsor must pay in full upon receipt of an invoice from the University. A sponsor is not permitted to pay in instalments.

Please be aware that you will not receive your  CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies) statement until you have provided an acceptable sponsor letter.

As you are not a Sponsored Student, and you have no sponsor letter to produce, you will have to pay the £1,000 to get your CAS.