4 Tips for International Student Visa Applications
Disclaimer: The Accepted Consulting Team are not experts in immigration law nor are they lawyers. Please consult a legal professional for inquiries related to your applications and acceptances.
You’ve gotten that email you’ve been waiting months to receive: You’ve been admitted to your dream university abroad! Hooray! You immediately celebrate, tell your friends and family, share the good news with academic mentors and supervisors…. and then immediately start to stress about everything you have to do from now until the start of the academic year. The toughest, most frustrating part of the process? Getting an international student visa.
As someone who has been through the visa process not once, not twice, but three times now (twice for Italy and once for
the UK!), I know a thing or two about losing several nights’ sleep over the confusing guidelines, shifting timetables, and legal uncertainty of the visa process.
Because Accepted Consulting is all about sharing our knowledge and providing gateways to higher education, here are some helpful tips that helped me navigate the process, followed by a typical visa checklist to keep in mind as you start your international graduate school applications.
Most universities will have specialized staff to help international students with their visa. This office should reach out to you once you’re accepted to help you get started with
the tedious visa process. If you don’t hear from them within
two weeks of acceptance, proactively reach out to their team. Follow their guidance to the letter as they are likely the only certified lawyers within the university who can give you legal immigration advice.
Any time you have an immigration question or feeling uncertainty, schedule an appointment or submit an official enquiry with
this team as soon as possible so you have enough time to
receive the response you need.
Know your university’s visa process from the start.
Sienna Abroad
2. Schedule a consulate appointment ASAP.
Getting a visa appointment at a consulate is always challenging as they usually fill up months in advance. Backlogs during the COVID-19 pandemic have only made the situation worse and it has never been more difficult to ensure a timely appointment. Check if the consulates and embassies in your country have an online portal system to schedule an appointment and refresh the page frequently for openings.
Check if you can mail in or drop off your visa application instead of having an appointment. Some countries do not require an embassy or consulate appointment for student visa applications so long as you are not required to supply biometric information, or they allow walk-in appointments.
Lastly, plan to incur travel costs while applying for your visa; if you are required to have an in-person appointment at a consulate and the only one with available appointments is hours away from where you live, you may have to drive, fly, and/or stay the night to make visa possible.
Since you are required to submit your passport with your visa application (for legal purposes and because the visa is physically inserted into your passport), you cannot travel abroad during the visa application process.
Keep this in mind as you estimate when you will submit your application, how long it is going to be under consideration, and any other foreign commitments or vacations you may have planned. Without your passport, you won’t be able to go abroad!
3. Do not travel internationally while your visa is under consideration.
4. This is only the first step, so get it done early!
While I wish I could say “once your shiny new visa is in your passport you’re out of the stressful immigration woods”, that’s unfortunately not the case.
A visa is only the first immigration step in planning your study and residency abroad. There will be other following steps that are contingent on receiving your student visa first that will allow you to apply for a temporary residence permit (a permesso di soggiorno in Italy), and access other services such as healthcare, bank accounts, foreign driver’s license, etc.
Again, it is important to keep in touch with your university’s international student office or visa assistance department to ensure you are complying with the necessary regulations before and after you arrive in your host country.
Typical International
Student Visa Checklist
*varies by location, please consult an immigration professional for your specific needs
Passport
Passport photo
Driver’s license or state-issued ID (photocopy)
Proof of accommodation
Letter from your university declaring you are an admitted student and they are sponsoring your visa application
Bank statements (proof of a minimum amount to subsist while living in the country is usually required. This is 1,000 euros/month for Italy and 1,334 pounds/month for the UK/London + proof you can cover tuition)
Flight reservations
Visa application form
Visa fee (usually a money order or cashier’s check)
Proof you have pre-paid into the national health insurance scheme
Proof of private health insurance and/or travel insurance
Biometric information (normally completed at the consulate/embassy or a third-party processing site; this is typically a head shot photograph and fingerprints)
As always, please remember to consult with your university’s study abroad office or an immigration lawyer for your specific needs. Otherwise, we wish you the best of luck with your international studies!
