My Guests require a visa, what should I do?
Information
If you are a student from outside the European Economic Area your guests may need a visa or entry clearance to attend the ceremony. As a general guide, if you require a visa to come to the UK it is almost certain that your family will need one too.
If your family need a visa to attend the ceremony they can apply for a Visitor's Visa which will allow them to stay in the UK for a maximum of six months. A Visitor's Visa is only intended for short visits and cannot be extended.
Full details of who needs a visa can be found on the https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
To help your family get permission to come to the UK you should send them the following documents:
1) A letter of invitation from you.
2) A student status letter. This can be requested from Gateway London, please submit an enquiry on Compass
3) A photocopy of your passport pages that show your details of your UK Student Visa, and the most recent immigration stamp from the British Authorities.
4) Evidence such as bank statements, to show you can provide your family with financial support during their stay in the UK (This will not be necessary if your family are only coming for a short visit and can provide evidence that they have their own funds).
5) Your graduation invitation (your initial invite will have been sent to you by email.) If you no longer have a copy of this please contact our Student Admin London team by raising an enquiry on Compass.
Your family should take all of the above documents with them (along with two passport photos of themselves) when they go to apply for a Visitor's Visa from the British Embassy or High Commission in their own country.
Please follow the below link for further information: Standard Visitor Visa
Example letter
Guide to what you need to say in your sponsor letter/letter of invitation:
Please use the template below for guidance. You can copy the below text and write the specific details for your situation in the sections between the square brackets [which look like this]. You can delete all instructions which are written in blue.
[Your UK address]
Date:
To whom it may concern,
I, [your name] [your date of birth dd/mm/yyyy], would like to invite my [wife/husband/mother, etc.] [their name(s)] to stay with me as my visitor(s) during my stay in London. I am a full-time registered student studying [full name of your course] at the University of Sunderland in London.
If you are financially supporting your visitors during their stay here or hosting them at your accommodation, please include the relevant sections below:
[I have adequate accommodation to host them during my stay.] [I have sufficient funding to sustain him/her/them during his/her/their visit.]
I am enclosing the following documents:
1. A letter from my University of Sunderland in London confirming my studies
2. A copy of a recent bank statement OR a letter from my financial sponsor (This is if you are supporting your visitor financially during their stay. Delete this point if it is not relevant)
3. A copy of my passport pages showing my visa conditions
4. 2 passport photos
5. A copy of my graduation ceremony invitation email (This is if you are inviting family over to attend your graduation. Delete this point if it is not relevant)
Yours faithfully,
[your signature]
[your printed full name]
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