Applying for a student visa to study in England

Ask your school - they deal with this all the time. When I did a study abroad program in Austria my school took care of all of the necessary paperwork.

www.americanexpats.co.uk is a nice board full of wonderful people who are moving or have moved the the UK. They are very helpful and friendly, and would probably have a bit more defined advice than this board (which gears towards vacation travel). Give it a try.

Thanks for your input. I checked the American expats website, but couldn't see the posts because I wasn't willing to pay the fee.

Are there any other websites you can suggest?

Sherry

Sherry, if you just Google "American expats in UK" you'll get a whole list of such websites. Every one I looked at had an "education" section, and there looked to be good articles that might be of help, too. Why can't your school help you?

My school told me to wait for instructions from the company that I am applying to (IFSA-Butler), who told me that they would mail me a packet 3 months before my departure date. It's about that time now, and I just contacted them. They told me that in all likelihood, I wouldn't need to apply for a visa but would get a stamp?! when I arrive in London.

I'm not really sure what that means, though.

Generally the study abroad office at your school handles those thing very well. But what or who is ISFA-Butler? Is this a standard academic program? Being accepted in late Nov for something starting in Jan is a little unusual.

IFSA-Butler is the "Institute for Study Abroad". Our school recommends using this program if we intend to apply to graduate or professional schools because after we study abroad, we can still receive an American transcript with the hours already converted.

Being approved so late was a concern for me too. They said that the earliest I'll hear back is Nov. 1 and the latest is about 2 weeks after that. I'm mostly worried about getting a visa in time for studying in England. I've cut my trip down to just under 6 months, but still don't understand this mystery "stamp visa" that I don't need to pay for or apply for in advance.

Thanks for clarifying what the stamp was.

There isn't one that will allow me to stay for six months? Does this change if I have an acceptance letter from a UK university indicating that I will be studying there for that amount of time?

Steve, is in the wrong country. The stamp will get you six months in England but that still doesn't cover your planned 7 month stay. You have to get your answers from Bulter. As you are finding out, this site is not the best source for this type of information. This is very technical information that can have a big impact if you get it wrong. The immigration officer is going to ask the purpose of your visit. If you say, "Study, education" it might get sticky because he might ask for a student visa you don't have. Or may not. If you say, "Vacation, Holiday" which is my normal response you have now lied to government offical. In the US you can go to jail for lying to a federal officer. This is an area that is not to be taken lightly -- get your information from informed sources.