₦airaland Forum

salsera:
@PARIBUS

i thot you just recently applied and got student visa(i read your thread)

how come you know so much?

If you've read between the lines in my threads, you might have deduced that i've been visiting the uk before now. From some 5 years back, i've been opportuned to visit the uk every year, this just happens to be my first time as a student if this clarifies anything. Regards

@D10
Jeans and T-shirts are common students' clothing here so you should be fine. Ensure you t-shirt are considerably thick for the weather here (even underneath a jacket). Not sure if you're staying in your uni's accomodation and if laundry services are free, if otherwise, i'll suggest you have a good mix of shirts/t-shirts to last about 2/3 weeks before having to go to the laundry (bound to save you some few quid every month). Also you'll sweat less (or not at all) during the coming winter months so you might be able to afford wearing a shirt/t-shirt twice before having to take to the laundry(just my personal opinion and kindly ignore this if you think otherwise).

You heard right. Most clothing you'll buy in Naija would be unsuitable for the winter months here. The cardigan might be helpful when indoors in a heated room but i'll advise you budget anything between 50-100 pounds which would get you the following winter essentials on getting here:

Thermal vests (or underwear) - these are like singlets or tshirts but surprisingly could keep you warmer about 5 times more than your cardigan would do. Averagely costs about 3-7 quid depending on where you shop. Plan to get btw 2 and 5 of this depending on affordability. Also it is much more comfortable to wear 2 of these underneath your regular clothing than wearing 4-5 shirts at once to fight the cold.

Ankle length thermal pants - done in same material as above but you wear this underneath your trousers. You'll be glad you get both of these during those occassionally long freezy wait at the bus stop. Costs about same for above.

Leather or very thick wollen gloves - Costs about 5-10 quid or much more (depending on quality, i presume brand is not the issue here). You might not need this right away, but the weather will be changing in a couple of days and you should plan to get these at least early october.

Thermal socks - Miight not be needed if you shoes with very thick soles (to stop your feet acting as a conduit for cold to your body - believe it or not it could be that bad sometimes in the dead of winter) - Costs about 1-5 quid for a pack of about 2-5 pairs.

Jacket (very thick ones and non-leather) - Your leather jacket (don't know how thick) might be suitable for some occassions depending on the weather, but very thick jackets (with a hood) would be invaluable and these (combined with your thermal vests) might be able to shield from the worst of cold and frost bites. These are relatively cheap and you should be able to get failry good and effective ones for between 10-30 pounds (could be more but i'm presuming brand or label is not an issue here).


Head warmer - Not sure if you can get this in naija (i've seen some guys wearing this in lagos - ). You'll need this (again) to save your ears (especially) from frost bites during those long wait (again) at the bus stops.


Also plan to spend anything between 10-30 quid for a single or double bed duvet. The thickness are usuallly measured in togs. (if i could recall 15 or 20 togs is the max you can get but i might be wrong). You'll definitely need this at bedtime. Hardly would you find accomodation where the heater would be turned on all night long. Even if you're self acccomodating you'll want to save on heating bills at night by using a duvet.

All the above are the essentials must have for the winter months, for the warmer months (from around late may till early September), your regular naija clothes should do just fine.

On a last note, my comments are mostly from personal experience and not necessarily without flaws and might not apply for other individuals. Regards

LJ:
please note that i would have gone 5 months into the programme before the visa expires. thanks to all for the hints

@LJ
It seems based on some degree of self-conviction you might possibly be missing some very crucial issues regarding your dilemma.

1) Student visa for 1-year postgraduate studies are normally issued for a period of about 4months beyond the end date for the course. Most students that applied for student visa to study at the PG level starting mid/late september or early october this year would normally be issued with a 16month (extra 4 months) visa expiring Jan 2009 (this is what i got and from some other posts on earlier threads, this seems to be the case). Note that this is given deliberately by BHC to enable students tidy up any issues with their PG thesis and attend the graduation ceremony (if they so wish). These additional months are not extra months for you to work or to start following another course (with the intention of getting an extension to complete this).

2) The only extension given for a student visa issued for postgraduate study would be under IGS (International Graduate Scheme). Undergraduate students who were issued with student visas that does not cover the entire period of their studies are able to apply for an extension on provision of evidence of regular attendance (and maybe others) at the school. This is not the case for PG students who would normally be issued with visas to cover the entire period of their course of study.

3) Have you verified from your school international office that you would indeed be able to defer your admission for 1 year having already arrived in the UK? I don't suppose you would have much issues with changing your course, but deferring your present course (or changing to a new one and deferring for 1 year at the same time) would be another issue entirely.

4) If the validity of your visa is Jan 2009 and i presume your course starts this september or early october, then i'll safely conclude that your course would actually end in July or August 2008. The 2008/2009 session in most schools would commence September 2008. Even if against the odds you were able to start the course in September 2008 (mid/late), that would only give you barely over 4months into the programme and not 5 or 6 months as you earlier thought. Registration requirements in my school for instance requires that international students physically bring their passport/visas and original certificates to the international office before they could be enrolled and classified as properly admitted students, if your uni have the same requirements, it would be a no brainer to think of the issues you might have with a visa not coverying the whole period of your programme when registering in sept 2008.

5.) As Azoriju rightly pointed out - why you didn't start your studies september, and what you have been doing in the UK since then. - how're you are going to give a plausible explanation on this beats me.

6.) As per suggestions of finding other schools, the odds are very great. Cases in which a student applied to several schools and actually got unconditional offers from more than one school, if such student applied and were issued with a student visa, then on arrival in the UK, might be able to go to the other school (for which he has been given and has accepted an unconditional offer of admission) which might not necessarily be the one for which he tendered docs for which a visa was issued. (However i think this would change with the new tier and point based immig system from 2008 when student visas would be valid for study only at the original institution for which the visa was issued). I don't think there would be enough time to arrive in the uk and get admission into another school for the same session.

On a last note, i presume you must have done due diligence and expended resources in securing your student visa, why let all these go to waste with your intended moves? Remember many folks would give a lot to be in your shoes. Regards

@Nedujizzy
Quoting your own words "before i make a costly mistake". I'll suggest you do your homework very well on this school before you make a move. The guiding rule here should be - if it looks too good to be true, chances are high that it isn't, follow your hunch.

@Akolawole
That's my own thinking as well. Maybe a link from the school's website (by the poster) would prove otherwise. But if i should be making a similar enquiry of Nairalanders, i think the first logical thing i'll do is to post such a link and let fellow Nairalanders help assess the authenticity.

@Viviiko
I think you've pinpointed the crucial word here 'accreditation' - and i'll presume this would include being accredited to take international students - not for English Language courses, but for full time postgraduate degree programs.

@Ikris
It might be helpful if you state which city or area in the UK you'll be staying or which uni you'll be attending. Even folks in the same area hardly meet or constantly keep in touch due to busy schedules. People might find it easier to hook up with you if you maybe 1) stay in the same area 2) attend the same school or 3) share the same interests etc. The more info you're willing to give about yourself and your interest, the more inclined peeps out there might be willing to oblige.

Just my 2 cents. Regards

@Nedujizzy
I'm curious to know what school have this tution fees for international students and what is the course of study. Could you regarded tution fees for home students in error as tution fees for international students.

If none of the above is the case, is the school charging 1,500pounds as tution fees for international students formally recognized by the home office as authorised to accept international students? Your answers would be helpful. Regards

@Leslexx

Unfortunately - Costs of internet access in subsaharan African are still one of the most expensive anywhere in the world - possibly due to lack of infrastructure (and i'm inclined to believe - consumer exploitation by ISPs). Most of the ISPs in Nigeria are connected to Tier1 global internet backbone via satellite (the most expensive) and being in business for a profit, would need to recoup their costs with tidy margins.

Never expect to see prices comparable or anywhere near to what you get in London.

The general rule about internet access (for corporate coys) in Nigeria - Good (Fast) + Reliable + Affordable - You can get any 2 of these to the mutual exclusion of the 3rd one.

You'll need to assess the level of quality of internet access acceptable for your business, if you only need a not so fast or reliable connection just to be able to use the internet and hook up with your reservation system when you can during the day, then you might be ok with the shared bandwidth subscription you get from most ISPs in Lagos, however if internet access is 'mission critical' to your business being set up then you'll need to look into getting your own C-band (or Ku-band which might be affected by weather changes like your dstv connection) VSAT connection and subscribing directly to Tier1 bandwidth providers from Israel, US or Europe. Regards

@LJ
Found this on a UK school FAQ site -

10. Can I defer or change my course after entering the UK?The student may be permitted to change their course provided that they have good reason to do so and that there is a place on their chosen course. The final decision is made at the discretion of the Dean. A student will not be permitted to defer a course or change institution once they have been granted a student visa. Deferrals can only be considered if a student is leaving the UK for personal reasons, and intends to return after one term.

see the link below - http://www.ctlondon.ac.uk/faq#faq-10

i believe this would apply to most (if not all schools) in the uk taking non eu students. So my 2 cents - don't put in a deferral except you are intending to leave the UK. Regards

Oops, just found out that the doc can't be attached as it goes beyond the 200k limit. I've tried compressing (winzip, winrar) but with no luck, best size i got was about 280k (doc original size is 387k - a pdf). If anyone has a public link to upload this to, i'll gladly oblige. Sorry i've had this doc with me for a while and not sure of the original location where i got it. However i can email if required - let me know.

Fellow Nairalanders - for all first time travellers and even season travellers amongst us, the attached doc is an online report showing some guidance used by immigration officers at UK port of entries to assess suitability of admitting or denying entry to travellers. Even as regular traveller, i have found this a useful insight often times i've stood at the other side of that desk at heathrow and gatwick wondering what rules guides one's assessment of admittance by the man/woman behind the desk.

To the best of my knowledge, the document is not classified confidential. Your thoughts on any parts of the report are welcome.

Here are few excerpts below that might be of interest:


Upon arrival at UK ports, all non-EEA passengers are subject to examination by an IO, to ensure
that they comply with immigration rules and procedures. Some are granted leave to enter after a
brief interview at the control desk (e.g. about their personal circumstances and reasons for seeking
entry to the UK); others are delayed for further questioning and then granted or refused leave to
enter

IOs respond to a number of trigger factors when conducting the initial entry process, which alert
them to passengers who may require further questioning. These factors include: documents
that are forged, tampered with or have been obtained through deception; the nature of
passengers’ travel histories and whether there is any evidence of previous immigration
breaches or refusals; the fit between their stated intentions about their stay and their responses
to the officer’s initial questions; the plausibility of a sponsor; and the passengers’ financial and
domestic circumstances. Consequently, IOs were often concerned about the strength of
passengers’ personal ties back home, their financial situation, the general state of their home
country’s economy, and the fit between their personal circumstances and what an officer might
see as feasible or ‘normal’ for passengers in their situation. Officers might also take into
account how passengers behaved at the desk; their dress, appearance and general
demeanour were also seen as possible ‘clues’ to their plausibility and, therefore, the need for
questioning.[/i]

[i]Immigration Officers work in a highly pressured and complex environment, and their decisions
about whether or not to hold a passenger for further questioning draw on a range of
information, intelligence and personal judgments. Within this complex process, one important
factor identified by IOs is economic credibility, which relates both the situation in the
passenger’s home country and the circumstances of the individual passenger. IOs explore this
alongside other key factors such as passengers’ travel history and the plausibility of their
reasons for visiting the UK. In contrast, IOs did not identify ethnicity as being relevant in their
decision process[/color]


7 Controlled cards are collected when conditions are placed on certain passengers, such as students holding visas and work
permit holders. The controlled cards are retained so that the passengers’ compliance with these conditions can be
monitored. Non-controlled landing cards are collected from most passengers entering the country on a routine visit (such as
business visitors or tourists).[color=#000099]

[b]Lines of questioning and IO repertoires
All non-EEA passengers are generally asked some basic questions about their plans, such as the
length and purpose of their stay, and where they have travelled from. These questions provide the
basic information on which an IO can start to make a determination about the passenger.
Although answers to the initial questions will form the foundation for later enquiries, supplementary
lines of questioning do not follow any set script. Some IOs described having their own repertoire of
questions to help them target their enquiries effectively and to identify which categories of
immigration rules apply so that they can explore relevant areas of credibility. For instance, one IO
described how he will always ask ‘business’ passengers further questions about the nature of their
work. Another described how he will always ask people entering the UK on a student visa for more
detailed information about their proposed course of study.
Other IOs did not rely on set repertoires for certain categories of passengers but described their
preferred mode of questioning. For example, some officers made sure they asked open questions
initially, to give passengers space to prove their credibility. These officers would ask questions like:
“How do you know the person you are visiting?”, ”Tell me what you do in your home country.” “Tell
me about your family …” They argued that these types of questions gave the passenger the
opportunity to provide full answers and convince the IO. On the other hand these open questions
could also “trip up” passengers with something to hide or those who were lying.
Not only did IOs vary in their use of repertoires or modes of questioning, they also varied in the
approach they adopt with passengers at the desk. For example, some preferred an informal style to
help passengers feel relaxed and open, others favoured a more formal approach.[/b][/color]

Landing a passenger
Although final decisions to land passengers were not the main focus of this research study, IOs
identified a number of situations where they were confident that granting entry was warranted and
they found little need to ask any further questions; for example, holidaymakers and those visiting
friends or family, who had return tickets, were staying for a specified length of time (say one or two
weeks), had sufficient funds and were able to state with confidence why they were visiting the UK,
were considered very low risk.
Passengers who are landed will have their passport stamped with one of seven different codes. Of
particular interest to this report are Codes 5N and 3. Code 5Ns are the type of endorsement given
to most visitors entering the UK; this stamp restricts the amount of time the passport holder can
remain in the country to six months and prohibits employment and recourse to public funds. In
contrast, a Code 3 is a qualified leave to enter, which grants a limited amount of time for entry (less
than 6 months) and IOs will often make a note on the back of the landing card to indicate why a
Code 5N was not granted. Code 3s have particular importance in cases where officers are not
entirely satisfied about a passenger’s credibility but where there are insufficient grounds to refuse
entry.[color=#000099]

Not to bore you with too much excerpts, i'll leave the rest of the reading to you if it catches your fancy.

LJ:
Dear Nairalanders. I just arrived the UK days ago on a student visa to expire Jan 2009. But i plan to defer my admission till september 2008. Then i will have just about 6 months left on the visa. Kindly advise on how, & when to get an extension. are there any risks in this?? Candid advice needed, any risks? when and how to extend? any points to note?. thanks

Kindly state the reasons why you wish to defer your admission after arrival in the UK. Not to preempt you but if i was the home office, the first thing that comes to mind would be inability to meet up with the financial obligations of schooling (and inability to follow course of study). How much school fees have you paid till date?. Conclusion of intention to recourse to unauthorised work or public funds could easily be drawn from these premises.

Unless you have very very strong reasons (medical condition that just arose after your arrival in the UK for instance - this is just a suggestion and might not necessary fly with the HO) for wanting to defer admission after you have 1) - been granted a study visa 2) - have arrived in the uk, i'll advise you not to please.

However this is just from my own limited knowledge of immig matters. I'll await to learn from knowledgeable guys in the house. Regards

@VicJustice
Thanks for your well wishes. Pray the same for you as well. Arrived in the UK last week without any issues and presently settling in waiting for school to start.

@DEEBOY29
From my very limited knowledge, i don't think it is compulsory to pay full school fees. For all the schools i've directly checked out, none of them require full school fees payment. Mine for instance requires 50% payment of school fees (but only before enrolment - which would normally come after visa issuance) for all students. If 1000pounds is what your school have asked you to pay to satisfy the requirements for being given an unconditional offer, then i would think that should suffice for the EC requirements (in addition to providing evidence of availability of funds to cover the remaining fees). It might be helpful to bring attention to the 1000pounds requirements stated on the letter from the uni and how this has been your guide to the amount of school fees you decided to pay before your visa app (on your student questionnaire form, in a personal statement, or in a cover note attached to the letter) but as you've already submitted your app, this should not really matter.

In my case, i just happen to have all the funds for the complete school fees prior to my visa app and going by my uni refund policy, i reckon that i should have no issues with getting a refund if my visa app didn't scale through, so primarily on this basis, i had no issues with making a complete payment.

As per sponsorship by your dad's company (i reckon this would be your company as well as you are a non-executive director - right?), i don't know much about this area but i believe you must have done the proper separation of the ltd company from the individual directors in the sponsorship docs submitted. If i could recall correctly, i think there's an earlier thread on this forum where Akolawole, Mr Pataki treated this issue of company sponsorship extensively (though can't locate the precise one at the mo').

By all means i wish you the very best and a positive result in your visa app.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY !!!

My student visa interview today was successful and went well with no issues. Please find below some info about my application (hope it proves helpful to someone as similar postings on nairaland had proved helpful to me).

Application

Submitted an application for a student visa at vfs ikeja on july 25th. Given 14 working days for a response.

Got called by bhc in the morning (around 10:31am) 1 day before the end of the 14 working days and told to come for an interview today. I inquired from the caller if i needed to bring any docs but i was told to only come with my slip given at vfs. (i presume this would be same for most candidates called for an interview and i later found out that there were other group of applicants at the bhc that came for 'documents' - possibly asked just to bring a required doc before their app could be decided).

I submitted the following with my application:

1. Certificate of acceptance from University.
2. Letter of acceptance from University.
3. University certificate
4. Statement of result from university
5. Professional qualifications (I'm in IT so submitted my IT certificates - bout 10 in all)
6. Bank Statement from my bank. (My current, savings and dom).
7. Covering letter from bank confirming authenticity of bank statements and current balances.
8. Life policy savings statements
9. Cover letter from Assurance company confirming authenticity of Life policy and current balance. ( i didn't really have much in this account, about 200k but just something to further reinforce my genuine financial activities). I didn't reckon it'll carry any weight really but i thought i'll include it anyway.
10. Letter from university confirming full payment of school fees. I'd earlier paid my school fees wiring funds from my dom account to the school. I didn't reckon that 'full school fees payment' would guarantee a visa, but like someone rightly pointed out on a earlier today/yesterday, i'd wanted to be excused from the burden of having to proof ability to fund school fees and on the long run, much more convenient for me as i won't have to bother about school fees once i start the course. I also highlighted on my statements line showing transfer of school fees to my school.
11. An excel spreadsheet showing a breakdown of living expenses for 1 year together with supporting evidence of how the projected expenses were derived. (i'll be living in a rented accommodation with my wife and kid so it was important for me to be able to demonstrate my knowledge of the living expenses i'll be facing. I had in the spreadsheet lines as follows (not in exact words):

Expenses description - unit cost - Qty - Total - Notes

Accomodation - 500 - 12 - 6000 - Tenancy Agreement attached
Council Tax - 0 - - - - Would apply for exemption
Transport - 200 - 3- 600 - Attached printed pages from transport company in the city where i'm schooling showing discounted fares for students. Also attached journey planner routes indicating distances from rented accomodation to school.
TV license - 140 - 1 - 140 - tvlicense web site printout

and other stuffs covering gas, electricity, water, feeding , miscellaneous expenses.

All this was to indicate that i have an accurate or nearly accurate knowledge of the expenses i would be facing.

12. 52-week assured shorthold tenancy agreement.
13. marriage cert,
14. birth cert of kid
15. family pix
16. leave letter from employer
17. Intro letter from employer
18. newspaper postings of adverts requesting my qualification of study (i did indicate that my original intention is to return to my work after my course of study but in the near future avail myself of prime opportunities in the growing ict sector. i had about 6 newspaper clips.


For all this documents, i had an A4 paper with appropriate header for each document groups as cover pagesand organised in the following manner:

Cover page 1: Evidence of acceptance by university
Cover page 2: Evidence of academic qualifications
cp 3: evidence of professional qualifications
cp 4: evidence of ability to fund course of study
cp 5: evidence of ability to fund living expenses

and so on (with names of attached docs listed on each cover pages).

Is this really necessary, not that i entirely think so, but i try to put myself in the shoes of the ECO. would i prefer they wade through my app to locate appropriate documents or have it all well presented and easy located with little efforts. I thought i'd go with the latter, besides i have nothing to lose.



Well this is the details i'm able to give regarding my application. It's in no way meant for any self glory but rather hoping it might be useful to someone somewhere perhaps.

Like i said in my earlier posts, i learnt a lot from the posts of other fellas here and out of anxiety and profound eagerness for success, decide to add some things i felt might be helpful.


INTERVIEW

Got to the bhc today around 6.45, met about 4 guys already waiting. As luck would have it (not that it mattered really) when we were being ushered into the outside waiting area - around 7.10, i was the first one in.

We eventually got called into the inner bhc waiting area at around 8am and was asked to finger print some 40minutes later. From the post of the other guys that have earlier gone on an interview, i had expected a long waiting day, but to my surprise i was called in for an interview.

Interview questions: (very similar to what has been earlier posted):

Which course, why are you going on the course, where is the uni, where do you work, are you going with your family, how will you pay your fees (indicated fees already fully paid), where i'm working. All these lasted about 5-8mins. Then the guy said casually 'i'll issue you the visa' and i tried as much as possible to say in a very subdued and mellowed voice 'thank you and thank you for your time'./

He handed me a slip and said to wait for about an hour for my visa. However the bhc queue marshall advised otherwise that i should give about 2-3 hrs. Went to a couple of places in vi and came back abt 2.5 hrs later but alas i didn't end up getting the stuff until about 3.30pm considering that i was the first to be interviewd that day (talk about the 1st sometimes being the last). But it was all good. Got the papers, broke out and TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY.


I've tried to give as much details as possible (excluding personal info of course) but if there is any areas more light needs shedding, it'll be my pleasure.


I hope others would be able to record their experience as well. (not necessarily on this thread) as long as nairalanders can locate and benefit from it.

Cheers all. Once again to God be the glory. I'm not taking any glory at all for myself. Forget about all my write up, did i tell you i was fasting and praying for 4 solid weeks and still continuing. It's been a God trusting experience for me. I've been visiting the UK regularly and still had a current visit visa but i knew i needed God's Grace and Mercy to sail me through my student visa which i know i quite different from a visit visa.

Everyone in the house, keep cool and my true regards

@Nkenwanyi

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Everyone, Just to let you know that I got my students visa yesterday immediately after my interview @ BHC Abuja. And to the rest of us that are still in the waiting game, I just want to assure you that God will also do it for you. Just believe that nothing is too difficult for him to do.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement.
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Congrats on your successful interview and visa issuance. Can you kindly provide some useful info with regards to the interview process. If you don't  mind possibly to the following:

What time  were you asked to get to bhc and what time were you subsequently interviewed.
Details of questions you were asked (as much details as possible would be helpful).

I have been invited for an interview next week as well for a student visa application and your response would be really appreciated.

Regards

@Kitaun
No offence taken at all. In the meanwhile let's not lose track of the original information this thread was set out to capture in the first place 'Success stories of uk student visa applications'. Let's leave the job of tracking multiple identities to the best man equipped to do the job (Seun) who i'm sure has ample utilities to log IP addresses and stop identity proliferation (if he so wishes). And for users that have the spare time to create multiple IDs and maintain these, i'll say 'good for them' if that's what floats their boat.

@Vicjustice
Opinions still remains one of the things we're all entitled to. How we choose to express this is simply from our own judgement. I think i have gotten a couple of good info from your postings and i'll leave it at that. Pls do encourage people you know to present their stories (or do on their behalf) as related to the thread topic. Regards

@ibis

Thanks for taking the time to share your story with Nairalanders. I can't but agree with you on the Student Supplement questionnaire. I believe this was introduced not long ago to help in determining the genuineness of a student application in the wake of the deluge of 'prospective students' wishing to study in the UK.

It's good to read the various threads on travel and visa experience from different people. I must admit that this has been very informative, educative and enlightening. And a big up to @Akolawole @Funkybaby @Imani @Londoncool @MrPataki @Vicjustice @all the rest i might have left out for giving your candid (and often times very helpful opinions) on these issues.

I've gone through a lot of visa application related threads in the travel section and i find it very very useful as i'll be applying for a UK student visa soon. While I've learnt a lot from the experience of folks that has had their visa applications rejected from one reason or the other, i think we can all benefit from other folks that have had a successful visa application as well if they can indulge the house in their success stories by taking a little time to write about their experience.

I'll appreciate if nairalanders in the house (or can encourage anyone you know) to please record their success stories about student visa (or other categories) application so that prospective applicants can learn a thing or two from these as well.