United Kingdom is popular with international students. Their flexible academic structure, the international recognition, and their multicultural environment is top of the list of the reasons for you to study in UK. Studying in UK enhances your resume and gives you wide opportunities all around the world to build your excellent career. If you decide you want to attend university in UK, it will require a student visa. In this article, we will help you through these 5 steps for the student visa application process for UK.
How to get Student Visa for UK 2023
- 1. Apply and get your admission letter from University in UKYou will have to decide and apply for admissions in one of the universities in the UK before you start your student visa application process. After you are accepted at a university, you get an acceptance letter. This acceptance letter helps you to move forward in the student visa application process. Here we mentioned some of the top universities in UK
· University of Cambridge
· University of Oxford
· University of Edinburgh
· Imperial College London
· UCL (University College London)
· The University of Manchester
· University of Bristol
· King’s College London (KCL)
· London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
· The University of Warwick2. Check out what type of visa you need to study in the UK
There are 2 types of student visas which you can apply according to the duration and course of that you decide to study in the UK. These 2 types of visas are:
Short-Term Study Visa (available for 6 or 11 months) – If you plan to study a short language course or take up a short period of research as part of a degree program.
Tier 4 (General) Student Visa – If you enrol in an academic degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. course). The Tier 4 Student Visa doesn’t have a fixed period of validity. It depends more on the length of your studies in UK
3. Apply for a student visa in the UK
You can apply up to 3 months before your date of travel to the UK. There are 2 options for applying for your student visa in the UK. You can apply for a UK student visa at the closest UK embassy in your country or you can do the form online. For an online application, you must apply using the British Government’s official site Gov.UK.
Conditions need to be fulfilled to receive a Tier 4 visa
Be over 16 years old
Speak, read, and understand the English language
Have sufficient money to support yourself during your studies
Have an acceptance letter from a licensed university in the UKDocuments required for a UK student visa
Completed visa application form
Current passport
Academic records and transcripts as mentioned in the CAS form
English language proficiency test mentioned within your CAS form (IELTS, TOEFL etc)
Two passport-sized photographs
Financial availability proof to prove you can support yourself on your stay in the UK for your studies
Original birth certificate (with translation for non-English document)
Tuberculosis test results from a TB Test Centre (UKVI)
Proof of paying the visa application fee
Receipt of immigration health surcharge payments form
Self-assessment form Appendix 8 with attached documents.
Other requirements depending on your country of origin4. Undertake an interview
In this interview, the applicants are asked multiple questions about their choice of course and future career aspirations. You should try to be very clear about your thoughts and be able to convince the interviewers about your choice of studying in the UK. Here are some examples of Interview questions asked:
State the reasons for choosing the UK for your higher studies.
Have you visited the UK before?
Why did you select this specific college/university?
How are you going to cover your fees and living expenses in the UK?
How will the course help you with your career?5. Biometric residence permit
As part of your application, you must also get your biometric residence permit (BRP) from United Kingdom Visa and Immigration (UKVI). You will need to book an appointment with UKVI to have your Biometrics. Your fingers and thumbs will be scanned, and a digital photo will be taken of your face.
Financial requirements to show for UK Student Visa
As mentioned, you are required to provide evidence in your visa application of funding to pay for your tuition fees, course, and monthly accommodation expenses while you stay in the UK. The overall amount of funding you are required to demonstrate depends upon the category you are applying under, the duration of your course, university, and your living arrangements in the UK. At the time of visa application, you must show that you have enough funding to cover the course fees and living costs in UKAs evidence of available funds, you can submit one of the following:
Cash funds in savings or current bank.
received official financial sponsorship
A loan letter
Official financial sponsorship letter
Student Visa UK CostUK Student Visa: Processing Time & Priority Service
The whole process of UK Visa application processing takes about 3 weeks(Note- 1 week is 5 working days). However, if you want to get the Tier 4 student visa decision on priority, you can avail of the special services available. There are two priority visa collection services available, for which you will require to pay some extra fee. For more details, you can contact the visa application center.