Study Away

13/8/20

UK Student Visa

Today the biggest piece of my international student journey fell into place, my visa!

Unfortunately because of COVID, my entire visa prosses has been even more stressful than it normally would have been.

It began when I got my CAS statement, which serves as proof of my place at a university in the UK. I received my CAS on July 23rd and I filled out the online portion of the tier 4 student visa application that afternoon. At the end of the application, you schedule a biometrics appointment, where you will have your fingerprints and a photo taken.

The application centre near me that provides biometrics opened on the 27th, and I was able to get an appointment for the 30th.

I drove an hour to my appointment, which only took about 10 minutes, and then mailed in my application to be overnighted to the visa processing office in NYC.

I was told my visa would take three weeks, which would mean I would only get it around a week before I’m supposed to leave.

But to my surprise, yesterday afternoon I received an email from UPS saying that my return shipping label had been dropped off and would arrive to me the next day.

Having heard nothing on the status of my visa, I was a little nervous. But this morning my passport arrived, with my approved visa inside!

I’m so happy that my visa arrived earlier than expected, as that was one of the main things causing me anxiety. Now all that’s left to do is pack, and get on my flight.

26/7/20

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