Goldsmiths CAS - when should I expect it?

Hi everyone!

I'm going to be studying at Goldsmiths for the coming academic year. I've been preparing since last summer and I'm incredibly excited! I'm really nervous about the visa application process, though. I still haven't received my CAS. Every time I email them about it, they say I'll have it by the end of that week, and then the next week comes and I still don't have it.

Does anyone have any experience at Goldsmiths and know when they usually send them out? I'm going to do priority service because I just want it off my mind, but I keep worrying that I won't have everything ready in time, and it would ease my mind a bit if I knew about others' experiences with the process.

I've not got experience with Goldsmith's, but I've had a tier 4 before and just sent off my application for my second one yesterday. If you're a US citizen, essentially the only thing you need to apply is the CAS. They reserve the right to request your documents for the qualifications used to get the CAS and for funding, but you don't have to send it in. So once you get your CAS, you do the online app, print it out, book your appointment, go to your appointment, then send your printed app, biometrics receipt, passport, passport photos, and priority receipt to NY. They say they process priority student visas in 3-5 business days, so you should be fine.

If you want to get ahead, you can go ahead and get your passport photos (I did mine online this time are passport photo.com but you can get them done at walgreens or those types of places). You can also go ahead and create the account on visa4uk and fill in the stuff you don't need the CAS info for. Like your personal details, travel history, etc.  then it's just a waiting game for the CAS.

I'd stay on top of the school for the CAS if I were you. Though I would be too worried about time just yet.

Thomas - I'm going to Goldsmiths this Fall as well, and I got my CAS about 2 weeks ago. Just stay on top of them with e-mails (without being rude!) and they will deliver. You just have to make sure they know the urgency of your request (my flight leaves August 28, so I needed mine sooner for the visa app).

I'm just finishing my MA at Goldsmiths! Looking through my e-mails, it appears I received my CAS on 26 July 2013. I had several issues of them not having all the information/documentation they needed from me, but they weren't always forthcoming in telling me that. I'd get an e-mail with a request for a form, send it back to them and ask if there was anything else they needed. They'd say they have everything, only to e-mail me another week later with a new request  . Their administrative systems are not the best.

So just stay on them, keep asking if they have everything, and try not to stress too much. Once I sent off my visa application, I had it back in about a week, so that part of the process went very quickly.