‘Get Entry Clearance before going to UK’

Vincentian Nationals who wish to enter the United Kingdom for more than six months must apply for Entry Clearance before arrival. This was advised in a recent press release from the British High Commission.

This regulation also applies to those who wish to enter the UK to study for more than six months. Entry Clearance as a Student or Prospective Student must be obtained from the British High Commission before arrival in the UK.{{more}}

Entry Clearance as a student will only be granted if the applicants can show that they have been accepted on a course of study at an educational establishment that is listed on the UK’s Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Register of Education and Training Providers (please see www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister )

The applicants must be able to show that they intend to follow:

• a recognised full-time degree course; or

• a course which requires at least 15 hours of organised daytime study each week; or

• a full-time course at an independent fee-paying school.

They must also:

• be able to pay for their course and support themselves and any dependents, and live in the UK without engaging in business, working or having recourse to public funds; and

• intend to leave the UK when they complete their studies.

The release also advised that, the transfer of UK visas into new passports could be very costly. “We therefore recommend that persons who wish to study in the UK obtain a machine readable passport before they apply for Entry Clearance. We suggest that photocopies of all the relevant pages of the passport, as well as the page with Entry Clearance are retained by the applicant.”

For more information please contact British High Commission or visit www.ukvisas.gov.uk.