Student Visitor Visas for UK

Applying to College
1

<p>I call upon the collective wisdom of CC to help us navigate what's turning into a real Kafka-esque nightmare. </p>

<p>My D will be attending the University of Edinburgh for the upcoming Spring semester. She would be considered a Non-Visa National and therefore eligible for receiving a Student Visitor Visa at the border after showing supporting documentation, but the university prefers their students to have pre-cleared multi-entry Student Visitor Visas obtained before traveling. Her home institution does not provide any advice or help in visa processing. </p>

<p>So D used the application for a non points-dependent study visa (i.e. not a Tier-4 study visa) as there were no other good options to choose from at the visa4uk site. The problem is with the "UK Sponsor" fields of that online form. There is no UK sponsor that we can fathom. Do they mean financial sponsor? D already indicated that her parents will be paying for everything. </p>

<p>The form will not proceed without all the fields being filled in so that the visa fee can be paid, the form printed out,and a biometric data appointment made to ultimately send off all and everything to the visa processing center in NYC. </p>

<p>There is no one to address questions to. Calling the Embassy or any of the consulates results in the same message: a recording that they cannot help but if you call such and such a number, live help will be provided on a fee per minute basis. Going to the Border Agency website is confusing because although they have the proper vaf1d form you can print out, it's from 2012 and things have changed, I have been told, since November 2013. e-mailing the contact help address provided has resulted in no answer as of yet. Plus the Border Agency website indicates that her nationality is one that must apply online. </p>

<p>Did D use the wrong form? Is it possible to apply in person at the consulate in NYC (I know of other countries' embassies allowing in-person visa applications)? Now I see why people hire go-between agencies to do this sort of thing.</p>

<p>Any help in how to proceed would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>I believe the sponsor is the educational establishment that she will be attending… Isn’t there a organisation option on the uk sponsor section?</p>

3

<p>Since she is going for such a short trip, why bother with all this? Might as well go for non-visa national.</p>

4

<p>The sponsoring organsation is the UK uni i.e. Edinburgh</p>

5

<p>I studied abroad at University of Edinburgh for a year. For stays less than 6 months, your daughter doesn’t need a visa at all. The visa is both expensive and a hassle, and involves very few benefits, so it’s for the best. [UK</a> Border Agency | Do you need a visa as a student visitor?](<a href=“http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/visiting/student/visa/]UK”>Study English in the UK (Short-term study visa): Overview - GOV.UK)
The website makes it clear she doesn’t need a visa, and can just show the documents. As stated above, her sponsor is the University of Edinburgh. If the visitor visa is anything like the tier 4, it’s completely obnoxious. I had to get biometric scans, and it cost over $400 for the visa. There was a lot of other stuff, but the organization I studied abroad through (IFSA-Butler) did a lot for me. Honestly it’s too late now, but I would have recommended applying to study their through IFSA-Butler or another program (like Arcadia), as they will help you and do things for you. Advice just in case anyone int he future reads this. Edinburgh is awesome, so once she gets there, she should love it.</p>

6

<p>When my daughter went to Edinburgh last semester, she didn’t need one, she had the info/paperwork checked at the airport and it went quite smoothly, they barely looked at anything.
Her sister, going for a year…well, that was a lot more paperwork.</p>

<p>They do stress to make sure you have the original letter of acceptance, how you are paying (she had letter stating her college was giving aid, etc) and I think she had bank statements she didn’t really need.</p>