Student visa checklist

A student visa file is not a form to fill in, it is a demonstration: proving that you have been admitted, that you can pay for your stay, that you know where you will live and that you intend to study.

The exact documents vary from one country to another and, inside the same country, from one consulate to another. The list below is therefore not your list: it is the common core, the one found almost everywhere. The only list that counts is the one published by the consulate responsible for the place where you live.

No agency, ours included, can guarantee that a visa will be granted. The decision belongs to the consular authorities, and to them alone.

Before you start

• Identify the consulate responsible for you and read its official list, in full.
• Check how long your passport is valid: many countries require it to cover the length of the stay plus several months.
• Note the date of the appointment and work backwards. Translation, legalisation and bank transfers take the longest.
• Open one paper folder and one digital folder. Every document has to exist as an original and as a copy.

The checklist

1. The admission letter

This is the document that sets everything else in motion. It has to be final, in the right name, for the right programme and the right academic year. A conditional admission is sometimes accepted, sometimes not: that is the first point to check with the consulate.

2. Proof of funds

The principle is always the same: showing that you can live and study without having to find work in a hurry. Depending on the country, this takes the form of a blocked account, a bank certificate, a scholarship or a signed undertaking from a sponsor, with their own proof of income. The amounts and the formats are set by the host country and change regularly.

3. Proof of housing

A signed lease, a letter from a hall of residence, a firm booking or a certificate of accommodation. Temporary housing is often accepted, as long as it can be verified. Never present a booking that you have already cancelled.

4. Insurance

Health insurance covering the whole stay, sometimes together with repatriation cover. Check the cover amounts required: a policy that is valid but too small gets the document rejected.

5. Personal and school documents

Diplomas, transcripts, birth certificate, photographs meeting the standards of the country. Depending on the destination, these documents have to be translated by a sworn translator, legalised or apostilled. This is the step that takes the most time and the one people plan for the least.

6. Proof of language level

A recognised test when the programme requires one, or a letter from the institution when it does not. Book the sitting early: exam places are often short at the same times of year as the visa applications.

7. Your study plan

Many consulates ask for a letter explaining your choice of country, your choice of programme and what you plan to do afterwards. Write it yourself, in concrete terms. What is being assessed is exactly the consistency between your past path and the programme you have chosen.

8. The interview

Not every country holds one. When it does take place, it is about what is in your file: the programme, its cost, the funding, your plans. Read your own documents again before you go, and answer plainly.

After you submit

Keep the receipt, a complete copy of the file and a record of every payment. Processing times are published by each consulate and vary a great deal with the season. Avoid booking a firm flight before the decision.

What nobody can promise

A refusal is not always final: depending on the country, an appeal or a new application is possible, often with additional documents. What can be worked on is the quality and the consistency of the file. The result itself belongs to the consulate.

Are you preparing your file right now? Send us the official list from your consulate and your admission letter: a Success Study advisor will go through it with you, document by document.