The other day I found out that the folks I nanny for
have a harpsichord function on their keyboard, and I freaked.
It is such a haunting but cool sound, and made me think of this song right away.
You can see a short version on my Instagram if you're interested in hearing how awesome it sounds.

Because

The song is so simple, but so complex in it's creation.

It's pretty amazing to think about how they approached this in the studio,
and how they probably felt after the finished product.

Getting an actual visa to enter a country is much different than a simple visitor's visa.
It's a lot more than just landing in a country and explaining to immigration your plans.
Unfortunately, they care a little more about their country to just let it be that easy.

There are a few steps to this, and it is a few week process,
but if you have your details organized and all together, it'll be smooth sailing ... or flying.


The first thing you'll have to do is receive your CAS. This is a 'Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies,' and comes in a long number that will be required on your visa application.

As an international, one of two things must be done:

1) Pay your student deposit, which will be anywhere from £1000+.

This is apart of your tuition, so freak out and think that your £4000 deposit is an additional converted mess to run you broke with your school fees (like I did).

2) You are exempt from paying your deposit if you are getting some type of financial aid.

I'm assuming most everyone reading this will be receiving FAFSA or some type of student loan,

so you will likely fall into this category.

Because you are able to pass through the required payment, all you need to do is email your student admissions and request the form to fill out for your CAS number.

This process took me about a week - you'll need to receive the form to apply for the CAS, apply - which takes no time at all, and once finished, the application goes out to the school to process.

After your CAS is administered to you, you're ready to go - time for the application!

For the application, you'll need a few things:

Passport - duh

Information on any previous visas you have received

Where you have travelled to in the past 10 year - even just for a vacation

I know .. a little unnecessary, yea?

Parent details (DOB, place of birth, etc.)

Your course tuition fees

How much money you have to cover yourself (seen as Maintenance Charges)

University information (don't feel lost on these - they should all be listed together either emailed to you with your CAS or on your applicant portal):

University sponsor license number - a number that the University is identified with

CAS number - the number you applied for

Course title - whatever degree you are receiving

Course level - I don't understand these UK levels much, but as an example for you, my course level is "QCF / NQF 7"

Start/End date - official dates of your course beginning and ending - on the website or given to you

And your university's address

At the end of this, you will have to fill in the points-based-system that the UK follows.

For a student visa, the total will be 40 points - made up of:

CAS number = 30 points

Maintenance = 10 points

Total = 40 points

If some of this sounds foreign to you, well, that's because it actually is.

I don't quite understand it all either, but this is more of a guideline on how to fill it out, not why you're filling these things out - ask a Brit for those answers when you arrive.

Those are the major items you will need for your application - if you have all of those together before you begin, the process will be easy.

Heather and I dealt with impulsive applying and having to figure out what everything means/search for whatever we didn't know we had to find. And trust me - not fun.

Don't worry, the fun isn't over yet! That's just the first part.

After you finish your application, you'll need to submit and pay.

Applying for the visa outside of the UK is the 'cheapest' option,

but don't feel so lucky - it's still £310.

Convert that and you'll see you're paying over $500.

I recommend filling your mind with the excitement of your adventures starting a life abroad,

and overpower your exchange rate rage.

Once you submit and make the payment, you're on to the NEXT step.

Nope, we're not done just yet!

After this, you'll need to make an appointment at your local immigration office.

You'll need to bring:

a printout of your visa application (signed)

A printout of your immigration appointment confirmation email

A printout of your visa payment receipt

Your passport

That was all that I was asked for, but the requirements ask for any other supporting documents, so to be safe I also brought:

My university acceptance letter

My acceptance of enrollment letter

My loans acceptance letter

etc. etc. etc.

 The appointment is not as extravagant as you may think.

Basically, they put a stamp on your appointment confirmation email,

take a photograph of you,

and fingerprint you over and over again.

Then you're done!

Oh, not with the visa process. Is that what you thought I meant?

No no, you're done with the immigration appointment.

There is still another step.

Lastly, you'll need to send in all of these documents with your passport.

Yes, physically mail your passport - I mailed mine through DHL, in which I've got a shipping number and details to know where my passport is at all times.

The visa office also sends a confirmation email once they have received your package.

So once it's in the mail, then you're on the waiting game.

Let the UK do the work, and sit and wait for your passport to come back.

And not just your passport,

your passport with a new shiny visa stamp inside of it!

More of a tedious process than a complicated one, if you have all the details organized.

And if you're looking for something much more in depth regarding this process, check out the UK government's visa guideline HERE

Good luck!

I took a nice hiatus from blogging completely, so I'm getting back on track with pages and posts!

Today's less about my travels, and more about travels to me.

Three of my absolute best friends from college made the trip

down to Florida to visit this past weekend, after over a year without each other.

Lots of celebrating this weekend -
Reuniting after the longest we'd been without each other,
one starting their first 'real-world' job next week,
and of course, the birth of America;
or what I like to call, 'the one day I'm not throwing British flags in everyone's faces'.

A short post while I catch up in blog world,
but a pretty great few days.

 And, we're back!

If you're just stumbling on this post, find the first two parts below:

{Part 1}

{Part 2}

So we've listed what we are looking for in and around our future home,

made a search for the places that will offer us what we want,

and narrowed it down to a few certain areas in London that are top living preferences.

With all this done, you can get into the 'hunting' part of this flat-hunting process.

Of course, there is a process to this, but I'll make it easy for you.

In order to get your flat, you need to find it.  There are tons of websites that give cheap accommodation - StudentAccomodation, Gumtree, Craigslist, etc.

I find these a bit sketchy, especially as an international, and I'm not trying to be taken advantage of in any way.

I prefer to go directly through agencies.

There are hundreds and hundreds of agencies around London, so I've found a few ways to navigate through them.

- Simple Google searches can help you find the most popular ones

'London estate agents' is an easy search and will bring up plenty of results

then it's up to you to research and find which ones offer the properties you like most.

- Rightmove and Zoopla are two online real estate portals that list the majority of properties that are for rent in London.  I was a little cautious to use this at first, because I wanted to go to an agent myself, but these websites direct you straight to the websites and negotiators to discuss property details.

Normally I do a search with my preferences, and with the properties I am interested in, I will either find the agency that is letting, and go straight to their site to contact them, or request details through the portals, and your request form will be sent to the agents who will get back to you.

It seems that this would be pretty straight-forward,

estimate monthly bills, see rent price, and add together.

In London, this is wrong. And I've recently found out that this is VERY wrong.

- Agencies have administration fees, VAT fees, additional charges, etc.

These are extra fees on top of the rent that you will pay when you secure the property.

Administration/VAT charges are (one-time) payments that go straight to the agency if you choose one of their properties to lease.

This can be anywhere from from £150 - £300.

- The actual price of the flat, may not be what is advertised.

I know - as if anything could be more frustrating.

The way that London normally advertises their properties are X-amount per week, rather than per month.

Because some months have more days than other months, and letting agencies will take cheaper weekly prices to catch your eye on their property.

I've just recently learned the way to calculate the actual price of a flat.

For example:

Say a flat is £300 pw

300(rent) x 52(weeks in a year) = £15,600 (yearly rent)

15,00(yearly rent) / 12 (months in a year) = £1,300 (monthly rent)

1,300 (monthly rent) / 4 (weeks in a month) = £325 (weekly rent)

So really, the property you are looking at is £325 per week, rather than the £300 that was advertised.

I know. Your head probably wants to explode right now.

I don't understand why this is necessary either.

Knowing all of this though, you will have a much better estimate of how much you'll be spending.

It's annoying, but better to do the work than be screwed by not knowing all the details.

This is the tough part as an international.

But even so, do not sign a flat unless it's been viewed by you or someone you trust.

London is a huge city, full of people to scam - don't be one of them.

DO NOT pay any amount of money before the property has been seen, and if someone writes to you asking that you do transfer money, forget that property and that person.

There are really only four options in viewing flats when you are searching from the other side of the world:

1 - If you have friends in the area, let them view on your behalf.

Heather and I are very lucky to have two friends who have been through the rental process, and have more experience than us in this.  They currently live in London and because we 100% trust them and their judgment, they are walking through a few properties for us.

We discussed everything we were looking for in a property with them, sent them our requests, and notified the agents of who will be viewing for us.

This is the easiest and most convenient way to find a property.

2 - Not everyone has people in a place that they are moving to.  While unfortunate, there are still ways to figure things out.  If Heather and I didn't have friends in the area, we would have booked our flights a week earlier, stay in a hostel, and set up our viewings within that week. It would be a quick and stressful process, but much better than blindly going into anything.

3 - If you are able to pull it, make a visit a month or so before you officially arrive.  This gives you the leisure to view properties and not feel like you are rushed in needing to find a place to live.  

4 - I don't have the experience in doing this, but I do know a few people who have done flat shares. They have spoke with (through video chat) tenants of a property who are looking for roommates, and if they feel comfortable, have secured their accommodation.  It's basically like going through a random roommate assignment like you did in college, so while you can't always be absolutely sure someone is the best option, follow your gut feeling.

Spare Room is the most heard about website I've seen for this option.

This is it, and what I am most looking forward to.

Once you've found the place you're set on, all that is left is making it officially yours.

London is a hub of diversity, so most agencies have dealt with international rentals before, but it's always good to make sure that they are able to do an online leasing process. 

This is so that you can get all the details together and officiated through an online process so that the flat will be there for you to move straight into when you arrive.  

This process will involve signing some papers, paying the deposit and whatever rent is required.

Because you are not a UK resident, you have the option of paying the rent in 6-month chunks, one at the beginning of the rent, and one in the middle (assuming you are signing for a years lease).

The other option is to sign a UK guarantor, which is a UK resident who co-signs on your lease agreement - basically stating if you cannot for any reason pay the monthly rent, then the bill falls on them.

We don't have anyone to sign this for us, so we will be choosing the 6-month payments, which actually makes things a little easier for us when we arrive, not having to worry about meeting rent each month.

Once this goes through - you have officially signed, sealed, and secured your home!

Is it exciting? I wouldn't know yet. I'm still in part three.

Right now, Heather and I are right in the mix of viewings, and I'm hoping that within the next few weeks, I'll have really EXCITED AND SCREAMING POST about how we've finally found our home.

Happy flat hunting!