By Renu Mehandru
While Immigration policies are usually the same and reciprocal with all countries, I will concentrate primarily on students going to the USA, UK and Canada for their higher education at both bachelors and masters level.
Since rejection rates for visas are going higher and higher, with last year’s average rejection rate at 28% – this has become a significant area of concern. Nevertheless, we know that India has the second-largest cohort of students studying abroad after China, so all you need to do is do your paperwork correctly because your papers have to ‘talk’ correctly before you face the visa officer.
Students have to keep in mind – that getting accepted at a university is not the end of the game. Visa is a significant hurdle that he or she needs to cross before taking off on that elusive flight. So students – do give this step all the respect it deserves.
Before you start putting together your visa documents, remember that the immigration officer sitting across the window is ‘not’ your enemy and does not take pleasure in ‘rejecting’ visas – he desires to help you reach your dream destination. However, by virtue of the powers vested in him by his country, he needs to make sure that he is filtering out anybody who is not a genuine student. Since 9/11, USIS has been particularly careful about F-1 entrants and rightly, so their sevis tracking system also started after this great human tragedy.
So the first thing you have to keep in mind, whichever country you are applying to – nowhere in your application must you show a dual intent. Instead, your papers must project that you intend to go there to study and come back once your permitted period of stay is over.
Next, make sure – you have a letter of acceptance from an accredited and designated learning institute.
The next big hurdle is finance. Remember there are two aspects of this that you need to fulfil both. One that you have the affordability for a 4,3,2 year education as your case may be. Even though you are physically showing expenses for the first year, the visa officer should be able to see a payment plan for further years. The second aspect is what is more daunting. The visa officer needs an assurance on paper that you have no other intent, and once your education is over, you will come back to your country. Unfortunately, most students tend to overlook this part of the finances, which leads to several rejections. Therefore, it is very important here to exhibit strong back home ties, which will convince him of your return.
Also, ensure that the program you are going for is aligned to your previous education and previous work; otherwise, this is another major reason for visa rejection. This is easy to manoeuvre for undergraduate students as 12th grade students virtually have an open field for choices and are allowed to move freely between Science to Commerce to Business to even Liberal Arts… but not for post-graduate students. Therefore, it is imperative that your course is aligned to previous education and your line of work, so you can convince the visa officer that your purpose to go abroad is only to add value to your profile and make you more job-worthy back in your country.
Last but not the least – you must be able to prove proficiency in the English language. The USA and UK are a little soft on this and will accept other options; however, the Canadian High Commission will not accept your application without the IELTS. So make sure you take it in good time.
Once you have done due diligence with the visa form, tick off every point in the checklist. If you have answered every question correctly and honestly, there is no reason why your student visa will get rejected, and you can start preparing for that flight you were finding so elusive!
The author is career counsellor and admissions coach at East West Unisys.
Read Also: Study abroad: Popular courses in UK among Indian students
