Duration of Tier-4 student visa ?

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:51 pm

What is the duration of the Tier-4 visa that one gets ?

a) If my course duration is from sept15 '2010 till Sept15-2011, when does my visa start and expire ?
b) Also If I need to travel before the visa start date, how can I travel ? using a tourist visa ?

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:55 pm

waiwai wrote:What is the duration of the Tier-4 visa that one gets ?

a) If my course duration is from sept15 '2010 till Sept15-2011, when does my visa start and expire ?
b) Also If I need to travel before the visa start date, how can I travel ? using a tourist visa ?

okay, where are you applying from? UK or abroad?

a) If you are doing a course that lasts six months or more, you can come to the UK up to one month before your course start date. I think you get a month after your course finishes....not sure

b) Travel where? uk?

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:58 pm

Sorry for not mentioning the details.
I am a Indian student, and traveling to UK for studies. my course is for 12 months.
I found that I will get visa upto 4 mnths after completion of course.

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:14 pm

waiwai wrote:Sorry for not mentioning the details.
I am a Indian student, and traveling to UK for studies. my course is for 12 months.
I found that I will get visa upto 4 mnths after completion of course.

yes but where do you want to travel? And you still haven't said where you are applying from.

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:15 pm

Applying from India, traveling to UK

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:45 pm

waiwai wrote:Applying from India, traveling to UK

So you will need a visitors visa to travel to the UK before your studies begin and will need to go back and apply for a student visa because you cannot go from a visitor to a student in the UK.

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:03 am

Thanks. About the visitor visa, how do i get it.
1) do i need to get an invitation from someone in UK (friend/relative) to visit ? Or I can book tickets of my own , book a hotel or something, and go for the visa ?
2) what is the duration for which I can get the visa for ?
3) And how many days does it take to get the students (tier-4) visa, so that I can keep enough time to come back and apply.

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:35 pm

waiwai wrote:Thanks. About the visitor visa, how do i get it.
1) do i need to get an invitation from someone in UK (friend/relative) to visit ? Or I can book tickets of my own , book a hotel or something, and go for the visa ?
2) what is the duration for which I can get the visa for ?
3) And how many days does it take to get the students (tier-4) visa, so that I can keep enough time to come back and apply.

I would not suggest that you go on vacation to the UK before you apply for a student visa. The time that you applying is a VERY VERY busy season for students visa and especially in india, this can take months to process. There was a big big outrage last student visa application season because many genuine student could not start their courses on time because the UKBA had took such a long time and as a result had to forfeit their places.

Applying for a visitors visa should be straightforward.

see this page http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... s#20711241

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:38 pm

Ok, it makes sense to apply as soon as possible for the student visa then.
But, I read somewhere that I can not apply for my visa more than 3 months in advance. So if my course starts sept-15, i cant apply earlier than June-15 . Is this true ? If thats the case, I might consider visiting UK in may-june period as a visitor, and then come back and apply after june 15 for students visa.

Also, about the delay in visa processing, how much delay are you talking about ? more than 2 months ? It will be disheartening.

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:55 pm

waiwai wrote:Ok, it makes sense to apply as soon as possible for the student visa then.
But, I read somewhere that I can not apply for my visa more than 3 months in advance. So if my course starts sept-15, i cant apply earlier than June-15 . Is this true ? If thats the case, I might consider visiting UK in may-june period as a visitor, and then come back and apply after june 15 for students visa.

Also, about the delay in visa processing, how much delay are you talking about ? more than 2 months ? It will be disheartening.

Yes I think it is 3 months. The system is a big big mess right now. I mean for example, i dunno if you heard but earlier this year the UK actually banned students from applying from North India, Nepal and Bangladesh. I think it's lifted now. - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8489349.stm

Anyway, no body knows what is going to happen. With the election coming in may, anything can happen.

These are some of the articles from last year's student visa application season:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8174267.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8293741.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8294600.stm

It was Pakistan that was hit the worst last year.

So, yeah, just apply as soon as you can when you are eligible. Make sure all your documents are in place and check again, again, again and again before you send it off. Even the smallest mistake can mean up to a months delay.

good luck

waiwai · Post by **waiwai** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:20 am

Sad. I just hope that this does not happen this time around. I will apply right before 3 months.

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Duration of Tier-4 student visa ?

Duration of Tier-4 student visa ?

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