It’s very desirable and laudable to search and enroll in the best of universities across the globe, regardless of your current location and academic status. It shows that you are willing to get out of your comfort zone. In other words, you have chosen to go global and not be stuck in the loop of basking endlessly in the cycle of redundancy and shortsightedness leading to the state of seeing oneself as a local champion. And when you’re able to see this pursuit of academic excellence of yours through, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with the completion of the process from matriculation to convocation is definitely worthwhile.
In most cases, you may be required to study abroad. With that comes the application for a student visa. What is this student visa? Your question is not out of place. Student visa is a government issued document. It is often granted by an embassy or a consulate general. As a student and immigrant, it also allows you to legally study in a university of your choice within a host country throughout a clearly stated time frame. In most cases, this student visa is an endorsed sticker or stamp that will be placed on the inside pages of your international passport. Before you embark on getting this student visa, let’s share some top insights with you.
Do your research and find out if your academic program requires a student visa
By virtue of bilateral relations, certain countries don’t require some categories of visa for their citizens to travel between or amongst them. Citizens of ECOWAS countries are enjoying this status. Furthermore, citizens of European Union are also free to study among the member countries. There are regional bodies in all the continents of the world which allow their citizens to take advantage of similar arrangements.
You will take an English Test if your university is located in an English speaking host country
The most famous among these tests are IELTS and TOEFL iBT. IELTS is known as The International English Language Testing System. It has been designed to help you achieve your goals of working and studying in countries where English is spoken. TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language, internet-based test) is basically for testing the level of your English proficiency before you are given an admission into universities that require it.
Get all the right documents
From your international passport to all other ones, make sure you don’t misplace or mix up any document in order to make the process comfortable.
Get all the right documents translated
This is specifically for students coming from countries where the native language of their university’s country is different from where they are coming from in the global map.
Make photocopies of all your right documents and keep them very well
This is very necessary. In as much as none of your documents is expected to get lost in the process of submitting them in any format, you should not take things for granted. They are your personal properties which must be well kept for all the right security reasons.
Your passport must have enough blank pages
The reason for this is straightforward. Your international passport is expected to have blank pages for the visa stamp. It’s the process when your visa is granted. If the pages of your passport have been used up then renew it immediately.
Get ready with your payment
Some amount of payment is required for the processing fees charged while your visa is about to be granted. Know the exact fees ahead of time and be ready to pay.
Apply for your visa very early
All the insights shared, so far, depend on you starting very early because the process of your visa can take a while. There will be background checks. Kindly keep that in mind and apply for your visa very early.
Be Informed and calm
This excitement of embarking on your academic pursuit is one thing. The ever changing regulations on every level of the process is a different ball game. No matter what the case may be, you need to stay informed for the latest updates and remain calm in dealing with situations that may arise.
For more information, feel free to contact us at Al-Ameen Compass Ltd. We will gladly help you throughout the process. It’s what we do.