Welcome to London Business School

Visas and immigration – what you need to know

Agenda

•Who, what, when, where?

•Prepare your tier 4 application

•Submit your tier 4 application

•Further sources of information

•Questions?

Tier 4 visas

• If you are from outside the EEA or Switzerland, you must apply for a student visa.

• You cannot study on any type of visitor visa – this includes business visitor visas or

general visitor visas.

• On our full-time programmes; MBA, MIFFT, MIM and Sloan – you must apply for a

Tier 4 (general) visa.

• Tier 4 visas are “sponsored” by the institution – LBS will be your Tier 4 sponsor.

• You can only apply for your visa after you have accepted your programme offer and

paid your reservation fee.

Tier 4 visas

Who needs a visa to study at London Business School?

• You can apply for your Tier 4 visa 3 months before your course start date.

The earliest you can do this is 6th October.

• Processing times vary.

On average it takes 4 weeks, but it can take longer.

• You can travel to the UK on your Tier 4 visa 1 month before the course start date

The earliest you can do this is 6th December.

• You may be able to apply from both inside and outside the UK

When and where can you apply?

Tier 4 visas

Inside the UK:

Tier 1 (Post-study work)

Tier 2 (General and ICT)

Tier 4

Prospective student

Outside the UK:

From your normal

country of residence

• There are THREE key areas you need to prepare in advance of starting

your tier 4 application:

1. Request your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

2. Check the Maintenance Requirements

3. Prepare your supporting documentation

Prepare your Tier 4 application

Tier 4 visas

1. You must have your passport to hand when requesting your CAS.

2. Log in to LBS portal – “My Next Steps” – “Apply for your visa for 2013”. Click on

your programme, “CAS”, then “Access the CAS system”.

3. Fill in the requested information completely accurately – it must match exactly what

is shown in your passport.

4. Your CAS will be available within 5 days – you will receive an email asking you to

log back on to the CAS system.

5. Please save a copy of and print the CAS statement.

Tier 4 visas

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Request your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

• There are TWO strict maintenance requirements you must be able to meet.

1. You must be able to demonstrate you have money to cover your 1st year tuition

fees of £51,400.

2. You must be able to demonstrate you have money to cover living expenses of a

minimum of £9,000.

• There are a number of different ways you can demonstrate this – we will cover this in

the next section on preparing your supporting documentation.

Tier 4 visas

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Check the Maintenance (financial) Requirements

Tier 4 visas

• All applicants must have the following documentation prepared to submit:

• Your passport

• Previous passports if available

• A passport sized photo

• Most applicants must have the following documentation prepared to submit

• Documents used to obtain your CAS. This will be your highest education

qualification – either the degree certificate or official transcript. It must be the

original document.

• Documents proving you meet the Maintenance Requirements – more details on

next slide

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Prepare your supporting documentation

Low risk applicants - If you are a nationality on the following list, and are applying for your visa within your home country, you are

considered low-risk, and do NOT need to submit any evidence to prove your previous qualifications or your ability to meet the

maintenance requirements. You must still be in possession of these documents in case they are requested, but you should not

submit them with your application. The nationalities are:

Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea,

Trinidad and Tobago, USA

Tier 4 visas

• Money from an official financial sponsor • Official letter showing your name, the date, sponsor’s name, length and amount of sponsorship.

• Bank statements • Explicitly showing funds for a clear 28 day period

• Dated no more than 31 days before visa application

• Original document showing your name, account details, bank’s name and logo

• Letter from a bank, building society or financial institution confirming funds • Explicitly confirming funds for a clear 28 day period

• Dated no more than 31 days before visa application

• Official letter showing your name, account details, bank’s name and logo

• Letter from a financial institution confirming a loan • Explicitly stating it is for the provision of a student loan

• Regulated by FCA or overseas equivalent

• Dated no more than 6 months before visa application

• Official letter showing your name, financial institution’s name and logo

• Money from your parents / legal guardians • Proof of relationship to parents

• Letter of permission from parents

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Prepare your supporting documentation

Tier 4 visas

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Prepare your supporting documentation

• Money you do NOT need to provide documentation for:

• Evidence of money already paid to LBS

• We will include this on your CAS. The more money you can pay towards your

tuition fees now, the less you need to demonstrate elsewhere. It is VERY

beneficial to do this if you are able.

• LBS scholarship

• This won’t show on your CAS statement, but we include it on the CAS system, so

this does not need to be demonstrated elsewhere

• Any documents not in English must be officially translated. Both the original

document and the official translation must be submitted.

Tier 4 visas

Prepare your Tier 4 Application

Money / evidence of money NOT accepted

• Property, shares, bonds, pension funds, life insurance or similar savings accounts are not

acceptable. This applies to your own and your parents accounts.

• Bank accounts of siblings cannot be used.

• Bank accounts of partners can be used ONLY if it’s a joint account and you are named on

the account.

• Money from a financial institution not recognised by UKBA is not acceptable – there is a list

on their website detailing such institutions

• Loans in someone else’s name are not acceptable

• Loans with conditions other than the success of your tier 4 application are not acceptable

• Money held in a bank account for less than 28 days.

Tier 4 visas

Submit your application

Complete the application forms - Appendix 8 AND the online

application form

• You must complete Appendix 8 from the UKBA website and print it out before completing it

by hand.

• http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/visas/vaf9-

app81.pdf

• We have produced a detailed guide for completing the Appendix 8 – please do not start the

application without referring to this.

• You must complete the main application form online through Visa4UK.

• http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/ApplyNow.aspx

• We have produced a detailed guide for completing the online application – please do not

start the application without referring to this.

Tier 4 visas

Submit your application

Next steps - book an appointment, pay, print the form

• The online system will take you through a process to select a time and place to attend

the most convenient visa application centre to you.

• You will then need to pay for your visa online – the online system will take you through

this.

• After making payment, you are required to log back in to the Visa4UK system and

print out a copy of your completed application form.

Tier 4 visas

Submit your application

Attend the Visa Application Centre – biometrics and interviews

• You must attend the Visa Application Centre at the time and place you have booked.

• If you are selected for an interview, you will be informed in advance of the

appointment.

• Please take with you your printed online application form, your completed Appendix 8

and your passport. You do not need to take other supporting documentation but can if

you wish.

• At the appointment you will have your fingerprints and a photograph of your face

taken.

• If selected for interview, this will be carried out by video conference to a Home Office

location in the UK. You will be questioned about your reasons for studying in the UK,

and your English language ability will be verified.

Tier 4 visas

Submit your application

Submit your completed application

• Following your appointment at the Visa Application Centre, you must either submit

your completed application in person or by post. Your completed application will

contain:

1. a signed and dated printout of your completed application form

2. your supporting documents (unless considered low risk)

3. your passport sized photograph

4. a stamped biometric receipt

5. your original passport or travel document

• Processing times can vary – 4 weeks is fairly normal, but it can take longer.

• Do not delay applying for your visa – we cannot postpone the start of the programme.

Tier 4 visas

Tier 4 dependent applications

• If your spouse, partner or children are coming to the UK with you, they must complete

separate applications.

• This can be done either at the time your apply, or at a later date.

• They only need to complete the application form VAF10 or online – No appendix 8 is

required.

• They must pay the same fee per application.

• There are maintenance requirements for each dependant - £5,400.

• The money can be held be either you or your dependent, and must be demonstrated

in a bank account over a 28 day period, ending no more than a month before the date

of application.

• Low risk applicants – if you and your dependent both hold one of the low risk

nationalities and you are applying at the same time from within that country of

nationality, you both qualify as low risk and therefore do not need to submit supporting

documentation to prove you meet the maintenance requirement.

Tier 4 visas

Where can I get more information?

London Business School resources

• Portal – Admits page, Discussion forums

• Admissions teams – Linden Selby, Aram Karakashian

External resources

• UK Home Office Visa and Immigration Service - http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/

• UK Council for International Student Affairs - http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/