Blog about my personal UK visa experience

I'm a prospective student from India, intending to pursue my Masters in the United Kingdom this year. My course is about to start in September and here I am writing a blog about how I applied and successfully received my student visa, all by myself. Yeah that's right, no agents or consultants! Right from the admission process until getting a visa can be done without any professional help. It's all out there, all the information can be searched and found. Only thing needed is your time and effort.

Now, I'm trying to reduce your search time too by giving you the links to useful information. When I began my visa application, I was on the look out for similar blogs, for someone who has undergone this process already and is ready to share their experience. I searched, searched and searched but in vain. So now I've decided to help everyone out there who wants to apply for a UK student visa.

Let this blog become a hub where useful information, applicant experience and student visa guidelines of our time are stored forever...

Apply online for UK study visa from India

Any student with an unconditional offer is eligible to apply for a UK visa 3 moths before the start of his/her course. So you will receive your CAS (Certificate of Acceptance for Studies) number only near that time frame, without which you can't make your visa application. And when you apply for your visa, the date on which you pay your visa application fee will be considered as the date of your application.

STEP 1: COMPLETE THE ONLINE VISA APPLICATION
After you receive your CAS number you can submit your visa application online by going to this link: https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/. On this page, you have to first register an account which can be done well in advance so don't keep waiting until you receive your CAS letter from the university. After registering, log in to your account and create a new student visa application. [How to fill in all your details in the application will be done in a separate post]

STEP 2: VISA APPLICATION FEE PAYMENT
I submitted my application exactly on the day from when I'm allowed to apply. [i.e., Since my course begins on September 8th, I can start applying for a visa from June 8th on-wards.] So I completed my visa application online on the 7th of June. Then I made the visa fee payment of INR 32550/- on 8th June. Hence June 8th stands to be my application date (exactly 3 months before my course start date).

One important thing to note before you pay your fee is that the visa4uk site accepts credit or debit cards only for payment. You can't do it with your internet banking nor can you pay cash. A problem that you may face here is that most cards have a daily transaction limit of say Rs. 30000/-. So get in touch with your bank or customer care and clear out this per day transaction limit on your card before you begin your payment process.

STEP 3: SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT
After you make the payment, you will be able to select an appointment date and time for submitting your original documents along with your passport. For this you will not be able to select the immediate next working day (i.e., you can't pay the fee today and take an appointment tomorrow), so plan accordingly. And all the appointment timings begin from 1.00 P.M only, nothing in the morning. So you can leisurely reach the visa application center mid-day!

FINAL STEP: SUBMIT YOUR DOCUMENTS IN PERSON
On completing the above steps, you will receive an e-mail confirming your appointment date, time and venue. At this stage your visa application is complete. Now you just have to print your application and get your documents ready [Documents required for student visa application will be done in a separate post]. Finally, visit the visa application center mentioned on your application on the scheduled date and time.

Comments and queries are welcome..

When will I get my UK student visa

How long did I wait for my visa?

I submitted my UK student visa application along with all the original documents and original passport at a VFS global visa application center on the 11th of June, 2014. I had opted for a courier service to deliver my documents to me since my hometown didn't have a visa application center and I can't travel there again. I had also opted for a SMS service to inform me about the status of my visa application. For both these services I had to pay Rs. 525/- which was collected from me directly at the visa application center.

Even though I paid for the sms service, I never received a single sms from the visa application center. Later, after receiving my visa, I came to know that DND(Do Not Disturb) was enabled on my mobile number. Check if you have done this too by entering your mobile number in this link - http://www.dndcheck.in/ If so, contact your network provider to get it disabled.

After about 2 weeks (which was a really long wait for me), on the 25th of June, exactly at 6.00 P.M, I received an e-mail stating that a decision has been made on my visa application and it has just reached back the visa application center. Neither this e-mail nor the sms alert (if you have opted for) will tell you what the decision is. Only when you open your passport you will be able to know the result. And since I had opted for a courier service I had to wait again till I received it in my hand.

All these couriers are dispatched through BlueDart, so you easily track where your documents are by going to the following link:

https://www.bluedart.com/

There you have to select the radio button "ref no" and enter your reference number starting with GWF - the one that was generated when you submitted your visa application online. My courier was dispatched the next day and delivered to me on the 27th of June. [In case you did not opt for a courier service, you can directly visit the same VFS center and collect your documents the next day itself.] I had to show one my original ID proof to the person delivering my courier from BlueDart before receiving my packet.

All my documents were correctly returned to me and above all I was really very happy to see my visa stamped inside my passport. :) I am entitled to enter the UK exactly one month before the start date of my course and remain there until four months after the completion of my course.

Comments and queries are welcome..