Hi there! My name is Leticia and this is “LAL speak to the world”.
What is with this visa thing? Do I need one?
Is a short-term student visa different from the long-one? To be or not to be?
We hear you! You want to study abroad, to learn English, explore a new country but this visa thing is just so confusing.
Today may be your lucky day, though, because we’ll have a quick and straightforward chat to help you to identify all the possible opportunities that you have to study in the UK and the visa you may need.
Do I really need a visa?
The answer is: it depends. If you’re from the European Union or Switzerland, you don’t need a visa to study in the UK.
However, if you’re not, you’ll probably need a visa to study there.
But don’t lose hope just yet. Visas are a serious issue but in most of the cases all you need to do is do things right and follow the rules. Yay!
So what kind of visa should I apply for?
If you’re 18 years old or over and you’re thinking about studying abroad for less than 11 months, you can do so on the short-term student visa.
Either for 6 or for 11 months. The 6 month visa currently costs 97 pounds and the 11 month one costs 186 pounds.
I would, however, suggest that you check the UK visa website to make sure that the fees didn’t change.
To obtain this visa, you don’t need to prove your English level and you can study as many hours per week as you want.
But it is important to know that this visa does not give you the right to work in the UK, either paid or unpaid.
Now, for those of you who are under 18 and are thinking of coming to any of our summer schools, you can get the short-term student visa specific for children.
The requirements for this visa are the same as for the one I have just mentioned and it currently costs 85 pounds.
So can I just book my course and apply for my visa. What do I need to apply for a short-term student visa?
In summary, yes, that’s all you need to do to apply for your visa.
So to do so you will need to have a valid passport and show that you or your sponsor can support you during your stay in the UK.
The sponsor is the person who’s paying for your trip.
So, just to recap, here are 4 basic things that you need to apply for your visa. First one, a valid passport.
Second one, a financial evidence that you or your sponsor can support you during your trip.
In this case you can use, bank statements or payslips from the past 6 months.
Third, details of where you’re going to stay and live and last but not least, the letter of acceptance from our school.
In this case some embassies may require the original version but most of them accept the scanned one.
But you don’t need to worry about that cause we can provide you with both.
And again I suggest that you check the website just to make sure that you don’t need any extra documentation.
But when should I apply for my visa?
The UK visa website suggests that you apply up to 3 months before the date of your travel.
However, if you can do it earlier, you should do it, just in case.
So let’s say that you have decided to study in the UK in the last year. You may be able to get your visa sooner but you should check first with the embassy.
And what happens, if my application for my visa is denied?
If you have already paid for your English course at LAL and your visa was denied, what you need to do is to provide the school with the documentation from the embassy
saying that your visa was refused and the reason and we will refund you all your fees except for the courier fees.
If you have asked us to book any other accommodation in advance, we will not be able to refund this money to you.
Generally, in most of the cases, the accommodation is only confirmed after we receive the details of your flight.
And you should only book your flight after having your visa.
You see, visas are not so complicated, at all!
If you still have some questions about the UK visas, leave them in the comments field and we will be happy to help you.
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