If you are coming to the UK to study a course of more than six months, or a pre-sessional course, you will normally need to apply for a Tier 4 (General) visa. You must apply for this in your home country before travelling to the UK up to three months before the start of your course.
One of the two main reasons for Tier 4 visa refusals is lack of evidence that you meet the financial maintenance requirements; the second is failing the student visa credibility interview which is covered in the next section.
Student visa financial requirements
www.ukcisa.org.uk has some very useful guidance on ensuring you meet Financial Maintenance requirements, in particular, Calculating Living Costs and Tier 4 Financial Requirements, and evidence required. We have given you some summarised guidance below but it is your responsibility to check up-to-date information. When preparing your financial documents:
- Make sure that you are holding the correct amount of money necessary for the required period. You must also show that you have either paid your tuition fee or have the full amount in your bank account
- The funds must have been available to you for 28 days prior to your visa application
- The financial documents you are using should meet the UKVI’s requirements – see webpage above. All documents used must be original and must not be more than one month old.
- Your financial documents must be from a reputable financial institution and not on the UK Visas and Immigration lists of those that are unacceptable.
- If your financial documents are not in your name, they must not be from any family member except for your parents or legal guardian. Using documents from an uncle, brother, sister or close family friend will be refused as these are not eligible.
- If you are using your parents’, or legal guardian’s, bank statements, you must provide your birth certificate (or other official document confirming your relationship) and a letter from your parents, or legal guardian, confirming they are supporting you.
- If you are being supported by a company or organisation, they must have an international presence. This means an office or branch in another country other than your home country.
- Any educational, or other, loans should be in your name, or the name of your parents.
- If the money you have is in a currency other than Sterling/British Pounds/GBP you should check the current exchange rate and provide a currency conversion from OANDA with your bank statements. If the money converted to GBP does not meet the required amount you will be refused.
Student Visa Credibility Interviews
There are two types of student visa credibility interview. The first type will take place at the same time as your biometrics are taken at the Embassy or designated agency. This initial interview should only take five minutes and will be via video link with the Home Office in the UK. The interview is designed so that the UKVI can decide if you are a ‘genuine’ student or not.
The Home Office will record the interview and send a summary to the Entry Clearance Officer who will decide if a second, more detailed, interview is needed.
The focus of this interview will be your reasons for choosing the UK, and your particular programme of study. You may also be asked questions on the content of your course and how it fits into your career aspirations. It may be helpful for you to reflect on the thought process which led you to choose the university so that you can easily recall this, if asked, in a credibility interview.
It is essential that you are well-prepared as questions can cover a wide variety of subjects and you may be asked something you were not expecting to be asked – on the structure of your chosen course or the type of jobs you will apply for once your study is finished. In order to help you prepare, we have outlined seven common themes of questions that are likely to be asked in an interview. This is not an exhaustive list and so should be used as a guideline only and to ensure that you are confident in answering certain questions before you attend the interview.
The points below have been written to help you prepare for a student visa credibility interview but they will also be useful if you are still to make a firm decision on what and where to study.
Typical Questions may include:
- Why have you chosen to study in the UK?
- Why did you choose this University?
- Why did you choose your programme?
- How do your studies fit into your career plans?
- What is the average salary for graduates of this course?
- If the costs of pursuing your course of study are higher in the UK than in your home country, why have you decided to incur the extra costs involved in studying in the UK?
- Who is paying for the proposed study plan?
- What is the source of income and how much they earn?
- You have previously studied in the UK – why have you chosen to return?
- You have had a long break in your studies, why are you returning to study now?
- What did you do during your break in studies?
- Do you have a job now?
- Does this new course complement previous studies or will it enable you to do your current job better?
- Do you plan to work whilst you study in the UK?
- How will you fund your studies?
- What do you know about the location or city where the university is located?
- Was our location an important factor in your decision?
The interviewer will also be checking your ability to converse well in English, if there is an issue with hearing them clearly e.g. via the video link, you should ensure that you raise this so that they are aware that it is a technical issue not one of comprehension. Universities in the UK have produced videos outlining the visa process on Youtube and other streaming websites which can be helpful in preparing for student visa credibility interview.
