Getting there is half the battle

Getting a student Visa was the most ridiculous thing ever. First of all we ended up doing my financial stuff wrong and my parents ended up having to redo all of it because I was at camp the whole summer. After that we finally got my financial declaration from Sheffield (basically a document that says I will be able to afford to attend school). Then I couldn’t figure why I wasn’t being sent my CAS number, which is a number that basically tells the consulate that I am confirmed as a student at the university. Turns out that the university wasn’t sending me my number was because my offer of place was not yet unconditional. I had two conditions that going to Sheffield were based on: 1^st that I had to graduate college, 2^nd that I had to get at least a final GPA of 3.2. Both of which I did of course. I thought I had sent all this information in but my application was never changed to unconditional.

I finally worked all the kinks with my offer and I was sent my CAS number. Turns out for my Visa I also had to get my biometrics done. Which is a fancy word for getting my finger prints taken. But I needed to do this at an immigration office, the closet of which is in Buffalo. So my dad and I hop in the car and go get my fingerprints taken. My life of crime is officially over.

So my Visa was finally finished (woo hoo!) and I had to expedite the process because I had about a week and half left before I flew to England. It takes about 10-15 business days for a Visa to be processed  so I needed to pay extra ($150) to get it done in time. Visa came in time and I can now legally reside in the United Kingdom until January 14^th 2014.

Some tips on getting a student Visa for England:

1)      It’s expensive; it cost $489 dollars to get the Visa plus the $150 to get it done in 3 days.

2)      Start early! Don’t be like me and do it less than a month before.

3)      You have to get your fingerprints done at an immigration center, which sometimes is a bit far away.

4)      If you live in the NYC area you can actually pay about $100 dollars and go to the consulate to have your application processed that day.

5)      The priority service and the consulate appointment can be booked through a site called worldbridge which is associated with the UK consulate.