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In most circumstances when a language travel student wishes to study abroad they will need a study visa in order to be allowed to enter the country for an extended period. A study abroad visa is different and has different rules attached to it than a more general leisure tourist entry visa and cannot be applied for when you land at your study abroad destination. These tips will help you find out what you need to know.
The best way to look at this is to assume that you will need a visa. Before you start worrying about applying for a visa you’ll need to have a passport to be allowed to travel, and to be granted a study abroad visa.
The first thing you should do when you’re considering a study abroad program is to apply for your first passport. Applying for a passport can take several months depending on your country of citizenship, so make sure you do this with plenty of time to spare.
If you already have a valid passport, check how much time is left on it. If it is due to expire soon (or within the period you are expecting to be studying abroad) you should renew it so that there is plenty of time left on it. If your passport is soon to expire you may have trouble getting your student visa, or being approved for entry into your study abroad destination.
Getting your passport is just the first step of several towards getting your study abroad visa! You can’t actually apply for your study abroad visa until you’ve been accepted onto a foreign language course, so here’s what you need to do…
The sooner you decide on which foreign language school you want to enrol at, and which foreign language course you want to study, the sooner you can get the ball rolling with regards to applying for your study abroad visa!
Once you have enrolled, the foreign language school can send you all the paperwork you need in order to apply for a study abroad visa. This paperwork will provide confirmation that you have been enrolled, confirmation of the duration of the course, and of the start and end dates.
Once you have the paperwork from the foreign language school you can set about applying for your study abroad visa. The language school may be able to give you a few tips and advice about this part of the process anyway, but what you need to do is get in touch with the consulate of the country you will be studying abroad in within your own country. So for example if you were going to England for a study abroad program you would contact the British Consulate in your home country.
The time it takes to apply for and be granted a study abroad visa varies with the different countries. The sooner you apply the better, so you can be sure that you have your study abroad visa in your hand when you arrive.
