Chapter 8 : Visa Application = Quick yet Complicated

In this chapter, I want to write about how complicated a visa application could become. I just hope this post will be useful for anyone else, who will apply for visa in the future. Anyway, the tips in this blog post are applicable only to the applicants of the UK visa and these tips are not applicable to the visa application for other countries (because the rules for each country are different).

In Indonesia, the visa application for the UK could only be processed via VFS global. Let’s just say that VFS is the only UK visa agent in Indonesia. For me, this was the first complicated procedure that I have to pass, because the VFS office is only opened in Jakarta and I live in Surabaya. I must prepared and double-checked all my supporting documents before I went to Jakarta, so that I won’t waste much time because of any documents that might be accidentally left behind in Surabaya.

Here are the list of the documents that should be prepared. This document checklists might change in the future because of the UK border agency rules. It’s very important to check the latest update of document checklists on the VFS website. And another important thing is to check the type of our visa application (mine is Tier 4 Adult student).
1. Original newest passport (with the expiration date less than 1 year)
if we have old passports, that would also have to be submitted.
2. A piece of original self photograph (size 45 mm x 35 mm)
3. Original Tenancy Agreement / Proof of Accommodation letter
4. A photocopy of Tenancy Agreement / Proof of Accommodation letter
5. Original CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Study) letter from the university
6. A photocopy of CAS letter from the university
7. Original Sponsorship letter (whether it’s a parent sponsorship or other sponsorship)
8. Original Academic Transcript (in Indonesian and English translated version)
9. A photocopy of Academic Transcript (for each Indonesian and English translated version)
10. Original Academic Certificate (in Indonesian and English translated version)
11. A photocopy of Academic Certificate (for each Indonesian and English translated version)
12. Original Bank Reference letter
13. Original legalized Bank Account Statement letter
14. A photocopy of legalized Bank Account Statement letter
15. Original Birth Certificate (in Indonesian and English translated version)
the English translated version must be translated by a sworn translator.
16. A photocopy of Birth Certificate (for each Indonesian and English translated version)
the English translated version must be translated by a sworn translator.
17. Original Family Card (in Indonesian and English translated version)
18. A photocopy of Family Card (for each Indonesian and English translated version)
19. Original TOEFL / IELTS test result
20. A photocopy of TOEFL / IELTS test result
21. A print out of flight ticket booking (which can be asked for free in any travel agent)

From all the documents above, the most complicated one for me is the Bank Reference letter and the legalized Bank Account Statement letter. The reason is because the UK Border Agency have a rule which stated that our saving must be held for 28 consecutive days prior to the visa application date. This saving is also have to be in just an ordinary saving, not in any other investment type such as Time Deposit or Mutual Funds. The account is also have to be in our name or our parent name. Total amount of our saving have to cover the tuition fee plus living cost for our visa period. The UK Border Agency has stated the living cost for outside of London is 5400 pound per year and for inner London is 7200 pound per year. For example, if our tuition fee is 12500 pound and we will study outside of London, we have to prepare 17900 pound in our saving and this amount should be stated clearly in the Bank Account Statement.

I remember that I have to went and returned to the bank until four times to get it all done. The first time I returned was because one of my saving is a time deposit. The second time was because the details of my total amount of saving were not written on the Bank Reference letter. The third time was because my account number was not written on the Bank Reference letter. And the fourth time was because the bank still hadn’t legalized my account statement letter. This was the second complicated procedure that I have to pass.

After all the documents are ready, I went to Jakarta on the 19^th of August 2010 and apply for my visa on the 20^th of August 2010. There was a minor mistake on my CAS letter, and thankfully this was corrected quickly by the IBEC staff and Brunel University staff. The visa application process in the VFS office was easy, although the waiting time was quite long for the biometric data collecting process. There was no interview session. The application process was quick, my visa was ready in less than a week. The visa application cost me around 250 pound. The complicated procedure for documents preparation was finally paid off with the quick application process.

~ by xhino on 11/09/2010.