₦airaland Forum

Nothing wrong with buying a one way ticket. Only reason I'd buy a return in her case is if I have some kind of plan to return to Nigeria within the year. Her visa is for three years, she can stay put in the UK for the duration of her leave.

I picked up my passport with the 1-month vignette in it this morning. I am sharing my experience to help anyone who might need it. I am going to study a PhD. at the University of Surrey.

My timeline:

-Application was made on the 10th of January (school resumed on the 9th Jan, registration closes on the 9th Feb).
-Acknowledgement from Sheffield on the 11th of January.
-Two TLS emails, confirming decision made AND passport pickup came in after 13 working days. The date on the visa vignette however was after 10 working days of the application. I never received an email from Sheffield.

My submission documentation:

- Application form
- Bank statement (Barclays Bank) showing required tuition and maintenance funds for exactly 28 days.
- Cover letter detailing when I returned to Nigeria (I was resident in the UK until November last year), why I want to study for a PhD., and a list of the documentation submitted for the application. This letter was very brief, no long story. Ideally, I should have used to actual application to cover that information (in the further information page)
- MSc. certificate and transcripts (stamped), both original.

I did not provide a TB certificate. This is because I had not been away from the UK for up to six months before making the application. However, for peace of mind, I would advice anyone in this situation to point that out in the "further information" section of the application, do not give the ECO an excuse to refuse your visa.

As for the application process itself, there will always be an interview (over some type of VOIP application, like Skype). They will ask you questions such as:
-what is your name?
-what school are you applying to?
-what is the name of your course (My answer was partially incorrect when I had my interview, I had a brain freeze and said "Renewable Energy" instead of "Environment and Sustainability Research"!)
-why do you want to study this course?
-how will this course benefit your career?

At the end of my interview, I asked the interviewer if there was anything she might want me to explain further. She explained to me that while the interview is a way to get to know a little bit about the applicant, the main thing they want to know is whether or not you have good command of English language. So I guess the important thing to do during the interview is to speak coherently, with good grammar.

Good luck, and God Bless.

Got a message yesterday from VAC, after, wait for it, 30 working days (August 16th). Those BHC guys really took their time on this one. Anyways flew down to lagos this morning, picked it up, checked the passport (yay visa was included). Thank God. Ran back to PH to finish my packing. Fly back to lagos tomorrow. Into London Saturday. To Surrey sunday. Resume classes monday. fun, fun.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed. Very helpful board.

Hello Aks.

I believe you mentioned a while back that your brother was buying a one way ticket to travel to the UK. Was he able to? I was told recently that you won't be allowed to fly / enter into the UK with a one way ticket, if you are not a UK passport holder. I want to know because I'm looking at the cost of buying a return vs one way.

Thanks

humblemoi:
Hi people.

I sent a mail to the embassy requesting the status of my application and this is what was sent to me.

Dear Sir

Your application will be assessed this week and the passport likely sent back to the application cetnre on Monday next week.

Regards

Visa Customer Care Unit- Abuja | International Group | UK Border Agency

Tel: +234 (0)9 462 3300 or FTN: 8495 3286 Fax: +234 (0)9 462 3278  E-mail: Abuja.Visacustomercare@fco.gov.uk

British High Commission, Dangote House, Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria


What i don't understand is, is it that they are yet to assess my documents all or that a decision will be made between tomorrow and next? Somebody should help interprete.

Lord help me!

At least you got a definite reply. It took multiple replies of "we are making some checks in the UK before we can make a decision" and "please be patient", and after 28 working days, to finally get a reply stating that they were sending it out to the application centre.

I believe after the case worker has made a decision, they still have to pass it by their supervisor for further assessment. So it could be that?

Just pray for Monday.

Hello.

Anybody know of third party pick-ups? Last year I got my brother to help me pick my passport up at their then Victoria Island Office (it was behind his office building ,and i reside in Port Harcourt). Was told as long as he brings along his passport which bears the same last name as mine. And I gave him a signed authorization form. However i'm getting conflicting responses. One told me last week the same as I was told last year, and just today another said it has to be in person.

Has anyone else tried recently to collect passports using a parent / sibling?

dancewith:
Sorry about this Dayo. I feel sad for you. Do not give up if its your wish to study in the UK. Hopefully the decision will be reversed

My brother has applied since and is still waiting for a response. You mentioned that the ECO did not see the payment you made for accommodation?

Is it compulsory to show this despite having the required maintenance funds in the account? My brother did not make any payment for accomodation aside the 7,200 pounds in his account. Is this a problem then?

Dancewith, it is not compulsory to make any payment, tuition or otherwise, to get a student visa, according to the UKBA guidelines. As long as you have proof of the full funds (tuition + maintenance) held for no less than 28 days. Only reason to pay for tuition or accommodation is if the school you are applying to has some kind of deposit rule to gain admission

@muami

sorry for the late response, thanks for the words of encouragment. All i can do is wait and see, after all they have to return my passport abi?

@muami

Yes, I had my A-levels and Undergraduate studies there. I've also been to the UK as a visitor on a number of occasions after my studies. Due to certain logistics, the bulk of my money had to be placed in the bank account i still maintain the UK (which meant I submitted a UK bank statement), although a certain amount is also in my Nigerian bank account.

School resumes next week. Tick, tock,

Hi

I want to know if anybody out there is, or has, experienced what I'm currently going through. Basically I submitted my application to VFS on the 16th of August, which makes it 26 working days as of today. While I know that the 15 working days stated on the collection slip is only approximate, I feel an extra 11 working days is pushing it.

After writing Abuja 2 weeks ago to ask about the status of my application, I received a reply stating they were making some checks in the UK and once they get the info they require they would make their decision. I wrote them the exact same mail 2 days ago and to my surprise, got the exact same reply yesterday!

Anybody else with a similar time frame, still waiting to collect their own passport?

I think what Femtopsy is trying to say is this,

Certain banks, like GTBank, do not have the statement showing the closing balance on the date the statement is printed. I know this because have printed statements from them on occasion. What they do is show the last transaction on that account at the bottom (be it COT, interest, etc), and of course at the top, they show the date it was printed.

To illustrate, say at on the 1st July I have N4m in my account, and the money sits in my account for 28 days, untouched, as the only transaction. I go to the bank and print out a statement on the 29th, which shows, at the top, the day the statement was printed (29th) but because there has been absolutely no transaction on the account, the only line on the body of the statement shows "July 1st 2010 , 4'000'000.00. Femtopsy says (at least what i understand) is that the ECO will refuse me on the basis that the closing balance on the 29th July was not explicitly stated in the statement.

My advice to anyone in this situation, where the final transaction on your account is not done after the 28 day period, is to make a small transaction just before you print out the statement. Or you can print out the statement twice, as the second print out will reflect the first as a transaction (N300.00 or so).