Visa extension information session August 2011. 15/07/2015© The University of Sheffield What we will cover today Why you need to apply before your visa

Visa extension information session

August 2011

19/04/23 © The University of Sheffield

What we will covertoday• Why you need to apply before your visa expires

• Why a perfect application is IMPORTANT

• How we are going to help you

• Supporting documents

• How much money you will need to show

• Completing the application form – the complicated parts

• Questions?

Why is it so important to make a perfect application?• If your application has only one mistake (e.g. the photographs

are not acceptable, you have missed out a question on the form) it will be rejected as invalid

• If your application is rejected as invalid, UKBA will return it to you and by that time your visa might have already expired and you will have to make an out of time application as an overstayer

• If you make an out of time application, you will have to show the higher maintenance amount (£5400 for 28 days plus outstanding tuition fees) and you will have no right of appeal if it is refused (even if UKBA have made a mistake)

• Overstaying can have serious consequences such as not being able to make a visa application for one year



How we are going to help you

STEP 1: Today we will talk you through the supporting documents and the tricky parts of the application form

STEP 2: sign up for and attend a preliminary document checking session Between 22 and 26 August where we will check your photographs, financial evidence, qualifications (and translations if applicable) and inform you if these meet the requirements or if you need to change anything. YOU MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. WE WILL NOT SEE ANYONE WHO IS NOT ON OUR LIST. At this session you will be given your appointment for the final visa application checking session. (see Step 3)

STEP 3: Between 26 and 30 September: Attend your appointment at the final visa application checking session. At this session we will check all your documents and your visa application form.

STEP 4: You will submit your visa application to UKBA

Documents you must send

Everybody:• Passport

• 2 Photographs

• Bank statements (if self funding) or

• Sponsor letter (if financially sponsored)

• CAS (statement doesn’t need to be sent but information needed for form)

• Qualifications used to obtain the offer

• Postal order

If applicable:• Biometric card (If you have

extended your visa before)

• ATAS clearance certificate

• Police registration certificate

• Under 18 years only: a letter from your parents giving consent to the application and to your studies in the UK

• If your qualification is not in English: an official translation


IMPORTANT NOTE:

• You must keep photocopies of your passport pages and of your visa pages

• We also recommend to keep photocopies of all the documents you submit

• You must send your visa application by recorded delivery and keep your receipt.



Photographs• Read the UKBA photograph guidance (available on

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/ecaa/photo-guidance.pdf)

• Do not use old photographs taken in your home country.

• Go to a photographer (e.g. Max Spielmann or Jessops in the town centre or Seaman Photography on London Road)

• Measure the photographs (overall size and head size)• Don’t smile, have a neutral expression• Make sure the background colour is either cream or

grey• Write your name on the back of each photograph


Bank statements• Use UK bank statements (not parents account, not overseas

bank statements)

• £1200 /£5400 plus outstanding first year tuition fees

• Money has to be in the account for consecutive 28 days before making the application

• Bank statements must not be older than 1 month

• The closing balance / last transaction must be less than a month old

• If your bank statement was printed within the last month but the last transaction was more than 1 month ago, your visa application will be refused

• Bank statements must include student’s name, logo, account number, date of the statement

• Online statements must be stamped on each page


Sponsor letter• Must be original (no photocopies/scans) and

include:

• Students name

• Name and contact details of the official financial sponsor

• Date of the letter (dated within one year)

• Length of the sponsorship

• Amount the sponsor is giving to the student or a statement that the student’s official financial sponsor will cover all of the fees and living costs


Previous Qualifications

• Original, not a photocopy or scan (this will be returned to you)

• The qualification you sent to Admissions to obtain your offer (usually your English test results and your academic qualification e.g. undergraduate degree, diploma etc)

• This qualification is also listed on your CAS statement under “evidence used to obtain the offer”

• You must check your qualification against the information on the CAS statement (name of qualification, place of issue, date of issue). If the information does not match, you must contact [email protected]

• If the qualification is not in English, you must provide an official translation


TranslationsThe official translation must include: The translator’s qualifications The translator/translation company’s contact details Confirmation of the translator that it is an accurate translation of the

original document The date of the translation The translator’s original signature of the translator or an authorised

official of the translation company.

If your translation does not tick all the boxes, you must obtain a new translation from a translating company in the UK

Leaflets are available after this session if you will need translations done


Postal order – Why?• Payment by postal order is safe, no

risk of rejection for non-payment

• Card payment and cheques – sometimes UKBA cannot withdraw money (even if there is sufficient money in the student’s account) and then application will be rejected and you become an overstayer


Postal order – how to get one• Postal orders can be bought from the Post Office

• Maximum value of a postal order is £250 so you will need two postal orders (one for £250, one for £136)

• You must pay for the postal orders in cash (Post office doesn’t accept payment by cards or cheque)

• You must also pay a fee for each postal order (up to £10 per postal order) so take enough money with you for the postal order and the fee


Postal Order – how to complete it• Ask the Post Office to make it

payable to “Home Office”

• On the back of the postal order, write your name, nationality, date of birth

• See slide 15 to see where to write your details on the back


Postal Order (front)


Postal order (back)


Write your name, nationality and date of birth in this space

Police registration certificate (if applicable)• Up to date address (the address

must be the same as on the application form)


ATAS• You must check on your offer letter if your

course requires ATAS clearance

• If your course requires ATAS, you must apply for ATAS clearance immediately to avoid any delays.

• http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/services-we-deliver/atas/apply-online/

• Once you receive the ATAS clearance certificate you must include it with your application


Your CAS statement• Admissions will email you your

CAS statement after your exam results are out

• You only need the information on the CAS statement in order to complete the form. You don’t have to send the CAS statement to UKBA

Details on your CAS statement

Details you need from your CAS statement to complete the visa application form:

• The Sponsor License Number

• Name and address of the sponsor

• Your CAS number

• The course title

• The start and end date of your course

• If your course requires ATAS clearance or not

• which qualification you must submit with your application – in your case this should be the SIC transcript – stated under “evidence used to obtain the offer”

• If you had any University scholarship, country discount or sibling discount (but not discounts for early fee payment) – stated under “evidence used to obtain the offer”


Your CAS number• The CAS number on your CAS statement is your

unique number

• UKBA can access your CAS record online using this number

• Therefore you don’t need to send the CAS statement

• Any tuition fee payments or University accommodation payments made after you received the CAS statement will be updated and show on the CAS record so UKBA will see those online


How much money do you need to show?• £1200 plus outstanding tuition fees for 28 days if your last course was 6

months or longer, £5400 plus outstanding tuition fees for 28 days if your last course was less than 6 months (you cannot accumulate more than 1 course to make up 6 months)

• If your visa application is refused or rejected as invalid, you must show £5400 for 28 days if you make a fresh application so it is safer to keep £5400 in your bank account until your visa is granted, even if you only have to show £1200 as you have been studying for more than 6 months

• Therefore we strongly recommend:

1. Ask your parents to transfer £5400 into your bank account immediately and keep it in your account until your visa has been granted

2. Ask your parents to pay the full tuition fee before making the visa application


Tuition fee reductions

• University scholarships and sibling discounts will show on your CAS record

• Discounts for early payment will not appear on your CAS record


Tuition fee discounts for early payment• If you pay your tuition fee in full, you will receive a discount

(between £50 and £200, depending on total fees)

• These discounts will reduce your tuition fee but they will not appear on the CAS record and you will not get any document to show that you have received this discount

• As you cannot provide any evidence for the discount, you have to treat them as if they are an outstanding payment (although they are not)

• Example: your tuition fees are £10,000 and you received a £100 discount for early payment. Therefore have only paid £9,900 and this amount will appear on your CAS record.


How to complete the application form when you receive an early payment discount


Example:•Tuition fees: £10000

•Early payment discount: £100

•Total payment £9900


The application form• Tier 4 (G) application form (version 7/11)

• Tier 4 policy guidance (version 7/11) -we refer to this in the step by step guidance

• Tier 4 policy guidance is available from the UKBA website http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/adult-students/applying-inside-uk and download

• Step by step guidance to help completing the form is available on http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/international/self/guidance



• In this example the total tuition fees (according to the CAS statement) are £12600 and there are no discounts

• Student has paid £6300 (if you pay after receiving your CAS statement, it won’t show on the CAS statement but it will be updated on your CAS record and UKBA can see this, so tick this box)

• In L2 write how much you have already paid. If you haven’t paid anything, write 0.00.

• Any tuition fee payments appear on the CAS record so tick “available from the CAS record in L3”

• As you have been studying for more than 6 months at SIC, you are qualify for the reduced maintenance level, tick the last box


• In this example the student’s total tuition fee are £12600 but he received a £2000 fee scholarship from the University (so after reduction the tuition fee is £10600)

• In L1 write the total amount before any discounts or scholarship

• Next to L1 write the discounts you have received and where these discounts are stated (early payment discounts are stated on the certificate of student status, all other discounts on your CAS under “evidence used to obtain the offer”

• In L2 write how much you have already paid. If you haven’t paid anything, write 0.00.


• Unless you are fully sponsored or you have paid all your tuition fees and accommodation cost of more than £1200, you will have still fees and maintenance owed, so most of you will tick “yes” in L20

• In this example the student’s tuition fees were £12600, he paid £6300 so there are £6300 outstanding

• The maintenance requirement for you is £1200

• Write here the total amount

• In this case the student is using his own bank statements

Bank statement Check• Does it cover a period of 28 days, with the closing

balance/last transaction being no more than 1 month before making the application?

• Does the minimum balance never drop below the required amount during those 28 days?

• Does it include the bank’s logo?

• Does it include your name?

• If you use online- or ad-hoc-statements: Is every single page stamped by the bank?


Photograph Check• Have you measured the head size?

• Does it meet the requirements of the photograph guidance (e.g. is it not too close to or to far away from the camera)?

• Do you have a neutral expression (e.g. no smile)?

• Is the background grey or cream?

• Was the photograph taken within the last 1 month?


FAQ’sI live in private accommodation. Can I deduct the accommodation

payments from the maintenance requirement?

No, only University accommodation can be deducted.

I want to use my parents bank statements/my bank statements from abroad. Is this possible?

You can use your parent’s bank statements from abroad, but you will need to provide your birth certificate and a letter from your parents, if not in English you will also need a translation. However, we will not check any bank statements from abroad and won’t be able to comment on those or tell you if they are suitable or not.

Why should I pay with postal order?

Students have often experienced that their application was rejected when paying by card or cheque, even if they had sufficient funds in their account. We don’t know why they were rejected but this cannot happen if you send the correct amount in postal orders. If your application is rejected, you might become an overstayer.

FAQ’sHow long does it take until we get our passport back?

It can take between 4 and 12 weeks. This is a very busy time for UKBA and it might take longer than usual. We advise you not to book any flights until you have your passport back.

Can I apply from my home country?

Yes, the rules are the same but the form is a different form (the questions are similar)

What if I move house

Write both addresses down with the dates when you will be living there (the new address in “correspondence address”. If you don’t know where you will be living, you can use a friend’s address, as long as you can trust that you will get the correspondence sent to that address.

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/international/immigration/eltc-presentation

Questions?
