In an effort to ensure international students don’t miss their first days on campus, the United Kingdom has begun priority and super-priority processing for student visas. The British High Commission on India on August 30 issued an advisory for Indian students on the lines.
The British Ambassador to India Alex Ellis said that the UK aims to increase the number of student visas granted, attempting to break the record created this year in June 2022. He wrote on Twitter: “Update for Indian students travelling to the United Kingdom — Great Britain has now made priority and super priority visas available for students. There is a high demand and we recommend you apply for your visa as early as possible with the required documentation.”
According to the UK government website, the priority visa service costs an additional £500 (Rs 47,000 at the current exchange rate) and a decision comes within five days. The super priority visa costs £800 (Rs 75,000 at the current exchange rate) over the regular visa application fee and the decision on that comes in a day.
The British Ambassador to India also stated that India is the largest source country of students to Britain. As per the latest ‘UK Immigration Statistics’, nearly 1,18,000 Indian students received a visa to study in the UK in the year ending June 2022 which is an 89 percent increase from the previous year.
The UK continues to be a popular destination for Indian holidaymakers too as Indian nationals accounted for the highest proportion (28 percent) of visitor visas granted. Over 2,58,000 Indian nationals received visit visas in the year ending June 2022, a 630 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Documents required for UK student visa:
· Offer letter from the University affirming Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). You must apply for your visa within six months of receiving your CAS
· TB certificate needed if you’re coming to the UK for more than six months
· Proof of funding
