UK Student Visa

Monday — July 14, 2014

By: StudyAbroad Team

This visa page is outdated.

To get more information on UK Study visa. click the following link.

Studying abroad is becoming more desirable in Pakistani students. There are many reasons to it but we are concerned about the way to get study visa for Pakistani students. Obviously when a student of Pakistan plans to study in the UK, he is non-European and needs to apply for UK student visa. There are many types of visa having its own restrictions and limitations. Also student visa depends on a person’s age, type of courses to study, duration of course, universities etc.

There are two types of student visas. You can apply for a six month visa as a "prospective" student, where you have not yet decided either on the course or the institution. Under the rules you can now switch over as a student whilst in the UK. Previously, because Pakistan was a visa national one had to return to Pakistan for a student visa. That is not now the case
Students are allowed to work part-time but no more than 20 hours per week.

Cheap accommodation is usually plenty but first year students are advised to ask their institution to provide the same on campus.
Most student applications are straight forward however, it is advisable that proper advice is sought on the type and level of course of study, fees etc. before making such an application. There is a right of appeal against refusal of student visas.

How do I qualify to travel to the UK as a student?

You must be able to show that you have been accepted on a course of study at:

a publicly funded institution of further or higher education (e.g. a university)
a private-education institution
an independent fee paying school

And that you are going to follow:

a recognised full-time degree course
a weekday full-time course involving at least 15 hours organized daytime study per week
a full-time course of study at an independent fee paying school

You must also:

be able to pay for your course and support an accommodate yourself and any dependents without working or help from public funds
plan to leave the UK when you complete your studies

Required Documents

Following documents are compulsory to apply for study visa of UK.

1. Visa fee
2. IELTS 4.5 (minimum 4.0 Score each Module).
3. Valid passport.
4. Filled & sign Visa Application form.
5. Tuberculosis Test Report (Original)
6. Five Passport size Photograph (white back ground and tie must).
7. Original Educational Documents plus two set photocopy.
8. English Proficiency Certificate
9. Two reference letters from UniversityConfirmation Acceptance Letter.
10. Last 28 days bank statement on personal name of student with Bank manager‘s letter. Balance must cover one year fee + one year living cost in UK.

Important:

Metric and Intermediate Certificate must be certified from concerned board and attested by IBCC and Foreign Affairs Office.

Bachelor Degree / Master Degree must be certified from concerned university and attested by HEC and Foreign Affairs Office.

How to appply

This section contains information about visa application fees if you are applying to come to the UK from Pakistan or Afghanistan. It also provides links to our guidance for most visa categories, including guidance on the supporting documents that you should provide with your application.

Pakistan students applying for a student visa are required to face an interview in which most students are rejected as they are not efficient in English. In the paper applications, 20% of Pakistanis applying for student visas are found to be ineligible.

There are two types of UK student visa namely Student visitor visa and a Tier 4 student visa. The student visitor visa is for short duration academic courses whereas Tier 4 visa is for long duration academic courses. So the student must be clear with his academic course requirements.

Firstly student has to make sure that school or university is registered with the Department for Education and Skills Register of Education and Training Providers, after that obtain a formal acceptance letter from the school or university in the UK in which he wants to study. In this procedure, he will contact with admission office of that particular university to fulfill their admission requirements. They are given an acceptance letter which indicates that a student has fulfilled all university admission requirements and university is willing to give him admission.

Next step is to submit an online application on the visa 4 UK after completely filling it and pay the fee to complete this application step.

After fulfilling first two steps, a student requires to send complete application to the British Embassy for approval.

Now it’s time to wait for approval from the British Embassy after the student has fulfilled all the above mentioned requirements. In the end, the student gets stamped with the visa details on his passport at the airport.

The Applying for a UK visa page explains how you can pay your application fee.