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| Warsash Maritime Academy, UK. |
Visa applications have to be submitted at the nearest VFS centre to your place of residence. The addresses of the VFS
centre’s can be seen by visiting the link: http://vfs-uk.co.in/contactus.aspx. For e.g. if you are from Delhi, you have to apply
at the Delhi VFS office and would not be allowed to apply for your visa in Mumbai unless you can show some proof of
residence in Mumbai for e.g. leave and licence rental agreement or electricity bill in your / parent’s name. You have to submit
the student visa application in person only i.e. somebody else can’t submit documents on your behalf as your biometric
details (finger prints) would be taken at the VFS office.
The visa application fees keeps on changing every year (usually keeps going up only). For the latest visa fees, please visit
the link: http://vfs-uk.co.in/visafees.aspx and check the visa fee mentioned under STUDY – Points Based System Tier 4. For
submitting the visa fees, you may carry the amount in cash only as the VFS office have in house facilities of making demand
draft there itself. Apart from the visa fees, carry an additional 1,000 Rs/- for additional charges like VFS service charge, SMS
alert activation, clicking visa photograph (they have an in-house photographer) and Blue Dart courier charges for return of
documents.
The visa processing time taken for a student visa application is normally 3 weeks i.e. 15 working days. Some students may
get a bit earlier also depending upon the rush of applications at the visa office for e.g. the month of August is usually the
busiest at the UK VFS office. In certain cases, if the student’s documents go in for secondary verification, the processing
time may go well over 1 month as well.
There are 3 possible outcomes for your visa application i.e. visa getting approved, visa getting rejected or the student being
called for an interview. If your visa is approved, you will have the UK visa stamped on your passport and all of your
supporting documents that you had submitted would be returned back to you. If your visa is refused, your documents will be
returned back to you along with the reasons mentioned for visa refusal. Thereafter, you can reapply for your visa by
rectifying the deficiencies mentioned in the visa refusal letter and reapply again at the earliest. If you feel that your visa has
been wrongly refused, you have a right to appeal against the visa decision. The third possibility is that you will be called for
an interview. Usually, decisions for visa approval or refusals are given on the basis of documents submitted and hence you
should be very careful in submitting your documents properly. Should you be called for an interview, you will be given a date
and time in consultation with you and you will have to visit the respective British (Deputy) High Commission office for the
interview. Usually interviews are called if the Entry Clearance Officer at the BHC has got certain queries which were not
answered through the documents that you had submitted. There is no need to panic if you are called for an interview as an
interview call does not necessarily mean a visa refusal.
It is very important that you do not give any false information / document during your visa application as if caught you are
unlikely to be given a visa in the next 10 years. If you do not have certain documents, it is safer to explain the reasons for
the same instead of submitting false documents.
Prior to student visa application, you must have got an admission in a UK Border Agency (UKBA) approved University /
College. On confirmation of admission, the college will give you an admission letter. They will also issue you with a CAS
number which will be required for seeking a visa appointment. Kindly note that the CAS number will only be issued a
maximum of 6 months prior to the course commencement date. On receiving the CAS number, you will have to email to the
VFS office seeking an appointment for the visa application. The VFS usually starts taking visa appointments upto 3 months
before the course commencement date. You will have to visit the VFS website and check if the appointments have started for
the month in which your course is going to commence.
The information given up in the tabular format has to be sent to VFS by email requesting for a visa appointment. The subject
of the email will be APPOINTMENT FOR TIER 4 STUDENT VISA. You have to seek an appointment at the nearest visa office
to your place of residence. The email addresses of the VFS offices are as given below:
Chandigarh: ukstudentchandigarh@vfshelpline.com
Jalandhar: ukstudentjalandhar@vfshelpline.com
New Delhi: ukstudentdelhi@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Kolkata, please email to: ukstudenteast@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Mumbai (north and south), Pune and Ahmedabad, please email to:
ukstudentwest@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Bangalore, please email to: ukstudentsouth@vfshelpline.
com
On receiving the email, VFS will reply back to you confirming your date and time for the visa application. Should the date and
time requested by you not be available, the VFS will give you an alternate date and time for the visa application. You can
expect a reply in 2 – 3 days time from the VFS after you have sent an email to them. You will have to carry the printout of the
email received from the VFS (confirming your date and time) when you go for the application process.
The documents that you need to submit during your visa are:
Arranging your documents:
The entry clearance officer at the British High Commission has to go through many visa applications daily. It is the student's
responsibility to ensure that his documents have been properly submitted in a way that it is easier for the visa officer to
understand his documentation. It is advisable that you categorise your documents into four distinct headings:
It is advisable that you group your documents under the above four headings, clip them together with a U clip and mark them
under the various headings using a post-it paper. This wold make it much easier for the visa officer to understand your
various documents. Please bear in mind that the visa officer is not someone from the merchant navy background. Hence, it
is difficult for them to understand a lot of your certificates and documentation. The above procedure would go a long way in
making the process easier for the visa clearance officer in understanding your application.
Funds to show for the UK visa:
From 1 October 2009, for all points-based system Tier 4 applications made outside the UK, the amounts required to meet
the maintenance criteria must be held in your personal or your parent(s)/ legal guardian(s) bank account for a minimum
period of 28 days prior to making your visa application. The end of the 28 day period must not be more than 1 month before
the date of your application, for which you must show bank statements /other evidence.
Please note that Fixed Deposits, Insurance policies, Provident Fund, Stocks and Mutual Funds, overdraft facilities from
banks, etc., are not acceptable proof of funds. You can only show CASH IN THE BANK or EDUCATION LOAN from a bank or
regulated financial body).
The funds that you need to show for the visa are your TUITION FEES (less any deposit paid) + 5,400 GBP as LIVING
EXPENSES (if your University is located outside of London) if your course is of duration 9 months or more (even upto 3
years). What it means is that even if your course duration is upto 3 years, you have to show living expenses and tuition fee
for the first year only i.e. as detailed above. If your course duration is between 6 – 8 months, the funds you need to show is
TUITION FEES (less any deposit paid) + 600 GBP x Number of months of the course duration (for e.g. 4,200 GBP if the
course duration is for 7 months). If your course duration is for less than 6 months, you will be going on a student visitor’s visa
and not a student visa which implies that the above rules are not valid. If your wife (and children) are accompanying you, you
will have to show 400 GBP / month additional for each dependant upto a maximum of 9 months. For e.g. if your wife and child
are accompanying you for a 12 months course outside of London, you will have to show 3,600 GBP additional for your wife
and another 3,600 GBP for your child i.e. a total sum of 7,200 GBP for your two dependants. For courses in London, the
living expenses will be calculated at 800 GBP / month instead of 600 GBP / month.
Please ensure that you deposit / withdraw 100 Rs/- from your bank account about 4 – 5 days before your visa application
date and have this entry updated on your bank passbook / statement. The 28 day period will be calculated from the last
entry date on your passbook / statement and not from the date on which you have taken the bank statement or submitted
your passbook to the visa authorities. For e.g. if you took a bank statement on the 15th of July but the last entry date on
your bank statement / passbook is 1st of July, the 28 day period will be calculated from the 1st of July and not the 15th of
July.
Reasons for Visa Refusal:
The following are the most common reasons for visa refusal:
centre’s can be seen by visiting the link: http://vfs-uk.co.in/contactus.aspx. For e.g. if you are from Delhi, you have to apply
at the Delhi VFS office and would not be allowed to apply for your visa in Mumbai unless you can show some proof of
residence in Mumbai for e.g. leave and licence rental agreement or electricity bill in your / parent’s name. You have to submit
the student visa application in person only i.e. somebody else can’t submit documents on your behalf as your biometric
details (finger prints) would be taken at the VFS office.
The visa application fees keeps on changing every year (usually keeps going up only). For the latest visa fees, please visit
the link: http://vfs-uk.co.in/visafees.aspx and check the visa fee mentioned under STUDY – Points Based System Tier 4. For
submitting the visa fees, you may carry the amount in cash only as the VFS office have in house facilities of making demand
draft there itself. Apart from the visa fees, carry an additional 1,000 Rs/- for additional charges like VFS service charge, SMS
alert activation, clicking visa photograph (they have an in-house photographer) and Blue Dart courier charges for return of
documents.
The visa processing time taken for a student visa application is normally 3 weeks i.e. 15 working days. Some students may
get a bit earlier also depending upon the rush of applications at the visa office for e.g. the month of August is usually the
busiest at the UK VFS office. In certain cases, if the student’s documents go in for secondary verification, the processing
time may go well over 1 month as well.
There are 3 possible outcomes for your visa application i.e. visa getting approved, visa getting rejected or the student being
called for an interview. If your visa is approved, you will have the UK visa stamped on your passport and all of your
supporting documents that you had submitted would be returned back to you. If your visa is refused, your documents will be
returned back to you along with the reasons mentioned for visa refusal. Thereafter, you can reapply for your visa by
rectifying the deficiencies mentioned in the visa refusal letter and reapply again at the earliest. If you feel that your visa has
been wrongly refused, you have a right to appeal against the visa decision. The third possibility is that you will be called for
an interview. Usually, decisions for visa approval or refusals are given on the basis of documents submitted and hence you
should be very careful in submitting your documents properly. Should you be called for an interview, you will be given a date
and time in consultation with you and you will have to visit the respective British (Deputy) High Commission office for the
interview. Usually interviews are called if the Entry Clearance Officer at the BHC has got certain queries which were not
answered through the documents that you had submitted. There is no need to panic if you are called for an interview as an
interview call does not necessarily mean a visa refusal.
It is very important that you do not give any false information / document during your visa application as if caught you are
unlikely to be given a visa in the next 10 years. If you do not have certain documents, it is safer to explain the reasons for
the same instead of submitting false documents.
Prior to student visa application, you must have got an admission in a UK Border Agency (UKBA) approved University /
College. On confirmation of admission, the college will give you an admission letter. They will also issue you with a CAS
number which will be required for seeking a visa appointment. Kindly note that the CAS number will only be issued a
maximum of 6 months prior to the course commencement date. On receiving the CAS number, you will have to email to the
VFS office seeking an appointment for the visa application. The VFS usually starts taking visa appointments upto 3 months
before the course commencement date. You will have to visit the VFS website and check if the appointments have started for
the month in which your course is going to commence.
The information given up in the tabular format has to be sent to VFS by email requesting for a visa appointment. The subject
of the email will be APPOINTMENT FOR TIER 4 STUDENT VISA. You have to seek an appointment at the nearest visa office
to your place of residence. The email addresses of the VFS offices are as given below:
Chandigarh: ukstudentchandigarh@vfshelpline.com
Jalandhar: ukstudentjalandhar@vfshelpline.com
New Delhi: ukstudentdelhi@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Kolkata, please email to: ukstudenteast@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Mumbai (north and south), Pune and Ahmedabad, please email to:
ukstudentwest@vfshelpline.com
To apply for an appointment in Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Bangalore, please email to: ukstudentsouth@vfshelpline.
com
On receiving the email, VFS will reply back to you confirming your date and time for the visa application. Should the date and
time requested by you not be available, the VFS will give you an alternate date and time for the visa application. You can
expect a reply in 2 – 3 days time from the VFS after you have sent an email to them. You will have to carry the printout of the
email received from the VFS (confirming your date and time) when you go for the application process.
The documents that you need to submit during your visa are:
- VAF9 Form
- PBS Appendix 8 Tier 4 General Student Form
- Passport (Old and New) of self & spouse (if she is accompanying you)
- Marriage certificate (if married)
- 1 Passport Size Photograph (of self and spouse)
- CAS email / letter received from the University / College.
- Pearson English Result / IELTS certificate (if appeared for)
- Notice of Eligibility from the MCA (if already obtained).
- CDC / STCW Short Courses / Sea Service Testimonials
- Salary Certificate (if you have from your company)
- Class X, XII, Graduation, Pre-sea course, etc. certificates.
- Educational Loan Letter from bank if you have taken an education loan
- Pass books / Bank statements from banks (updated within the last 5 days)
Arranging your documents:
The entry clearance officer at the British High Commission has to go through many visa applications daily. It is the student's
responsibility to ensure that his documents have been properly submitted in a way that it is easier for the visa officer to
understand his documentation. It is advisable that you categorise your documents into four distinct headings:
- College documents: For e.g. admission letter / cas email from college, accommodation details, prospectus, etc.
- Financial documents: This would include your bank statement / bank passbook and / or education loan sanction letter
from your bank. If you are taking an online bank statement printout, it should have the bank's stamp, signature, date
and logo on each page of the printout. - Educational qualification documents: This would include your stcw courses (basic and advanced), GMDSS,
petrochemical courses, previous CoC, Class X, XII, graduation / engineering, pre-sea courses, etc. - Work experience documents: This would include your sea service testimonials, pay slips, company contract letters,
etc.,
It is advisable that you group your documents under the above four headings, clip them together with a U clip and mark them
under the various headings using a post-it paper. This wold make it much easier for the visa officer to understand your
various documents. Please bear in mind that the visa officer is not someone from the merchant navy background. Hence, it
is difficult for them to understand a lot of your certificates and documentation. The above procedure would go a long way in
making the process easier for the visa clearance officer in understanding your application.
Funds to show for the UK visa:
From 1 October 2009, for all points-based system Tier 4 applications made outside the UK, the amounts required to meet
the maintenance criteria must be held in your personal or your parent(s)/ legal guardian(s) bank account for a minimum
period of 28 days prior to making your visa application. The end of the 28 day period must not be more than 1 month before
the date of your application, for which you must show bank statements /other evidence.
Please note that Fixed Deposits, Insurance policies, Provident Fund, Stocks and Mutual Funds, overdraft facilities from
banks, etc., are not acceptable proof of funds. You can only show CASH IN THE BANK or EDUCATION LOAN from a bank or
regulated financial body).
The funds that you need to show for the visa are your TUITION FEES (less any deposit paid) + 5,400 GBP as LIVING
EXPENSES (if your University is located outside of London) if your course is of duration 9 months or more (even upto 3
years). What it means is that even if your course duration is upto 3 years, you have to show living expenses and tuition fee
for the first year only i.e. as detailed above. If your course duration is between 6 – 8 months, the funds you need to show is
TUITION FEES (less any deposit paid) + 600 GBP x Number of months of the course duration (for e.g. 4,200 GBP if the
course duration is for 7 months). If your course duration is for less than 6 months, you will be going on a student visitor’s visa
and not a student visa which implies that the above rules are not valid. If your wife (and children) are accompanying you, you
will have to show 400 GBP / month additional for each dependant upto a maximum of 9 months. For e.g. if your wife and child
are accompanying you for a 12 months course outside of London, you will have to show 3,600 GBP additional for your wife
and another 3,600 GBP for your child i.e. a total sum of 7,200 GBP for your two dependants. For courses in London, the
living expenses will be calculated at 800 GBP / month instead of 600 GBP / month.
Please ensure that you deposit / withdraw 100 Rs/- from your bank account about 4 – 5 days before your visa application
date and have this entry updated on your bank passbook / statement. The 28 day period will be calculated from the last
entry date on your passbook / statement and not from the date on which you have taken the bank statement or submitted
your passbook to the visa authorities. For e.g. if you took a bank statement on the 15th of July but the last entry date on
your bank statement / passbook is 1st of July, the 28 day period will be calculated from the 1st of July and not the 15th of
July.
Reasons for Visa Refusal:
The following are the most common reasons for visa refusal:
- If the funds shown by you are less than the amount required to be shown for the visa, your visa will be refused
because of insufficient funds. You should be careful about currency fluctuations and hence always keep a buffer
margin of atleast 50,000 Rs/- to take into account any currency fluctuations between Rupees and Pounds which may
go against you. The funds that you need to show is the BALANCE TUITION FEE + 5,400 GBP for living expenses. If
any dependants are accompanying you, you will need to show 3,600 GBP / dependant additional money. For e.g. if
your wife and child are accompanying you, the total funds to be shown is (BALANCE TUITION FEE + 5,400 + 3,600 +
3,600) GBP. If you are appying for your visa along with your family and the funds shown is less than required, your as
well as your dependants visa will be refused. The tuition fee for the course as well as the deposit paid will be
mentioned in your CAS email. Please use the CAS information as a reference point for calculating your money
requirement. The currency exchange ratio is taken from the website www.oanda.com on the visa application date. - If the funds shown in the account have been held for less than 28 days in your account, your visa will be refused.
- The bank statements submitted must have the bank logo, statement date, your name and account number as well as
the bank manager’s sign and stamp on each page of the statement. If one or more of the above is missing, your visa
will be refused. THE SINGLE BIGGEST REASON FOR VISA REFUSAL IS THE BANK PRINTED LOGO MISSING ON
THE BANK STATEMENT. The bank manager may persuade you that even a rubber stamped logo is acceptable but it
is not so. There are many students who have got their visas refused because the bank manager convinced them that
the rubber stamp or their signature will suffice instead of a PRINTED LOGO. Beware or such wrong information being
given by the banks. - Your CAS email / letter will give a list of documents on the basis of which you have been given an admission and
hence a CAS number. It is mandatory that you submit all those documents mentioned in the CAS in originals only as
else your visa will be refused. - An English language test has become compulsory for all students going for CoC courses to UK. If you have appeared
for IELTS exam, please ensure that you submit the IELTS certificate in originals only. If you sat for the Pearson PTE
English test, you have to submit the online printout of your PTE score. At the same time, from the Pearson PTE
website, you need so send your score to the UKBA office as well prior to your visa application. - Your college will have a course starting date as well as a course last joining date beyond which you will not be allowed
to join the course. If you apply late for the visa, it is likely that your last course joining date would have passed before
your visa processing is complete. In such a case also, it is likely that your visa would be refused as your last course
joining date has passed. - You should be very careful not to submit any forged documents or to hide or mislead the visa authorities by giving
wrong information. If you are caught, your visa will be refused and you will not be given a visa again for the next 10
years. - If the lamination of your Passport has come out, it is likely that the VFS will advise you not to submit that Passport for
the visa. However, if the VFS does not advise you and you go ahead and submit the Passport, your visa will be
refused. Either get the lamination repaired or apply for a new passport. - If your visa has been refused for whatsoever reason, you will have to apply for a new CAS number from the college. If
you apply for a visa again on your old CAS number, your visa will be refused. - Your passport shoud have atleast 3 blank pages at the time of visa application or else the VFS will not accept your
application. - It is also possible that your visa gets refused if the Entry Clearance Office, due to oversight missed some of your
documents and hence refused your visa. Such cases are rare but do happen. In such cases, you should appeal
against the decision and it is very likely that you will be issued with a visa. There are no charges for the same.
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