Advice, help?

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oliveu2cm

oliveu2cm

Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
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Live from Boston
As some of you may know, my boyfriend lives in England while I live in America. We've been together for a year and a half, and we've been planning for him to come here for school this Fall. That would enable us obviously to be together, and move forward long term (although we both know and talk openly about our long term intentions with each other).

He just found out last night that the whole student visa thing requires payment or showing of COMPLETE FUNDS UPFRONT. This means he would have to show that he has nearly $100,000 in the bank, reserved for his education. His parents have money for him and were willing to pay, but on a yearly basis, not put out this kind of money at once. The state school he is looking to go to costs $4000 a semester if you live in the state. :( But not only is he out of state, he's out of country.

Does anyone have any sort of experience with this? Is there any possible way around this? Anything...??? :(
 
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I was looking into doing the opposite for a while, and from what I remember, there are a bunch of Commonwealth scholarships he would be eligible for, however, I'm not sure whether he would qualify since his plans are to go to the US which is a non-Commonwealth member.

Is he just coming to do his undergraduate degree? I think that if he is doing graduate school, there would be a lot more opportunities for loans and that sort of thing.

Other than that, I'm not sure. :|
 
Holy Cow that's a lot of money...couple of suggestions:

Bank loan/guarantee - if his parents are going to pay perhaps they can do the line of credit thing at their bank which will guarantee the money.

Sponsorship - depending on what your boyfriend is studying some corporations may be willing to sponsor/scholarship him.

Marriage - marry him and then his status may change. If it doesn't you might end up with several toasters.
 
Thanks guys...

Yes, it is for his undergrad. I think we're going to have to start doing some serious searching for scholarships, of which we had little success in finding before.

We discussed marriage, and although I know we're going to eventually get married I don't really want to do it this way. :slant: :sigh:

This whole thing has been difficult enough.. just when I started to think we were almost there....
 
I'll ask your question on a few immigration lists I'm on, if you don't mind, and see if anyone has encountered this. It might be that a letter and bank statement from his parents might be enough. If not, maybe he could get a loan and his parents could pay into that? Usually there are ways of getting around things like this, so don't worry. :):hug:
 
Thanks meegannie. :hug:

I think I've figured out that they are talking about getting the student visa. I guess it's not about having to pay anyone $100,000 all at once or even showing a bank balance of $100K, but in order to be issued a student visa, the student has to show that he can pay for his u.s. education and not resort to a)working illegally or b)defaulting on any loans.

So now I have to talk to him and figure out what we're going to do, if his parents can do this, if loans are an option (he gave me the impression it was out of the question). I thought they understood the cost of school here. It sucks- he is planning on moving here, living here, investing in the country, the state, taxes, the whole shebang. I understand that doesn't matter though to the visa people, or anyone else. This has thrown me for quite a loop.
 
Here are the replies so far:

In my experience, that was a number of years ago... my parents did have a large sum of money sitting in the bank at one point, so the bank could produce a letter saying we had this money sitting here enough to support me for a few years so I wouldn't need welfare or find illegal work. Even you move the money around afterwards...
I'm not sure how little can you have to get through the visa application. Sorry not much help, but yes I think it is ridiculous. If they can't come up that much, and yes I think they should write a letter, go with him to the embassy, bring anything to show that he will be supported with no problem.
Good luck!


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funny- i was in the exact same situation only i went to britain. by the time i planned the trip and was accepted, my boyfriend and i had broken up because we couldn't handle the distance. but i came anyway cuz i love glasgow and now i'm here. him and i actually realized how much we missed each other and are great friends and dating somewhat. fabulous story eh?

now for the real bit. i think that he should be able to get as much official documentation as possible (ie; payment stubs for his parents, bank statements-maybe a couple years worth to show money coming in steadily, letter from employers-whatever you can think of really), have a plan layed out for parents sending him money and how much and when, etc.. all typed out and official-looking. take as much of this documentation and take it when you go to get the visa. it wouldn't hurt to check into what they mean by 'requires payment or showing' i'm sure they run into this kind of thing all the time and could help you out. just be firm and don't let them give you the runaround. i would even do it a couple times because sometimes people here just give you an answer to give you an answer and it's not entirely correct.

------------------------------------------
I, too, heard the same thing when I went to the UK for grad school.

They accepted a notarized letter from a family member saying that they were responsible for my school costs.

Before we picked that we knocked around a few other ideas: finding a rich friend or relative who could produce that kind of bank statement, seeing if they would accept proof that we owned our house as "money". Would they agree to do a year-to-year visa?
Ha sthe embassy or consulate been any help at all? I would have been lost without the British consulate here.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

I really think he'll be okay if he just has a LOT of paperwork. It seems that if you overwhelm immigration with lots of documentation, they realize that you're serious about it. Is he applying in person or through mail? If he CAN apply in person it might be worth the extra hassle to go to the embassy so his parents can come with him.

Good luck. I'll let you know if anyone else replies with anything helpful. :)
 
thank you meggie! :heart: I will send him all that info!

we've been in a terrible place these last 24 hours but talked again tonight and i think we're going to try to go for this, see what we can do to get student loans (one school said they are 90% sure they offer loans to int'l students : prays: )... I figure we'll get married in 2 years anyway so then he would only have to pay in-state fees for the last 2 years if I understand correctly.

and if there's no way possible this will work.. we're seriously considering the route of him staying in england for 3 years to get a degree there.

He said if we do break up he would still go to school and come get me three years later, no matter what :reject: lol. he's crazy in a good way! :heart:

thank you guys for letting me 'talk aloud' about this.
 
One more:

I know that when I came, I paid ahead of time for the first year's tuition and accomodation, and that was fine. They didn't ask to see anything more than that, financially speaking.

Which isn't to say they won't.

But I do think it's only the first year that you need to prove.

OH YEAH - and you can get a signed and notorized letter from a 'Sponsor' - i.e. his parents - committing to paying his expenses for the years after the first one, and that should do customs just fine.

And having everything nicely organized doesn't hurt, either.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks meegannie.

This has been SO overwhelming and we've just run the gauntlet of emotions and possibilities (breakup, marriage, me move, him stay there for 3 years) :scream: :banghead: that it's been incredibly frustrating and upsetting!!!

We are looking into a couple other options though, so hopefully we won't have to deviate too far from our initial plan. :prays:

Thanks for all your help- I've forwarded it along. :)
 
I found this forum this morning: http://britishexpats.com/forum/ that might help. Immigration/expat forums have been the most helpful thing for me when I have multiple questions and am getting confused by all the information and just want practical steps to take or know how the process works.

Hope everything's going well. :)
 
Bluey- :hugs: :mac: *martini* Thank you!

Immigration Laws: But CANT YOU SEE WE'RE IN LOVE?!! :scream: :love: :sigh:

Meegannie, thank you soooo much for all these links. I have been doing a TON of reading on the marriage laws etc. We're not going to be married for a couple years but I feel proactive at least learning about things.

Things have been going better and I'm feeling better now that the initial shock and "quick, decide!!" moment is over. We have a few plans of actions and whichever allows us to be together and is the most affordable (in the order..i hope) we'll do.

It's all gonna be SO worth it in the end though... :heart: :sigh:
 
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