Chat, I finally received my visa today 😭😭😭
Biometrics: 31st July.
VFS Global: Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Visa Service: Standard
Update/Communication: Received no email, no update, no request to upload any additional documents, nor to attend an interview.
Approval: 19th August, 2026, 19:21 hours (Indian Standard Time)
Processing time: 19 calendar days, 13 business/working days.
Hi, I am J., an Indian national and I applied for GDL at the Nottingham Trent University. I am a 2024 law graduate and I have accumulated two years of work experience as an Advocate at one of the prominent High Courts of India.
Right, so first:
1. How it started:
1.1. I applied for the course in the last week of February, 2026 through LawCabs and received my offer to study by first week of March, 2026 when I booked my pre-cas interview.
1.2. By the first week of April I applied for an education loan with my concerned bank. Though I was sanctioned the loan by end of April, 2026, however due to some (very much) avoidable circumstances on the part of the concerned Bank Manager, I was not sanctioned the loan amount till the second week of June, 2026 (yes, more than a month of delay) when it was finally routed to the University.
1.3. Thereafter, I received my CAS on 22*^(nd)* June, 2026. HOWEVER, because my dumbass thought that I could just use the funds available in my brother's account (my older brother lives in Manchester, UK and has a skilled worker visa) as maintenance funds, I hadn't done the 28 days maintenance funds thingy while I waited for the bank situation (its my fault because I should have been up-to-date with the UKVI changes and updates).
1.4. After coming to know that I can ONLY use my own bank account or my parents bank account, I started the 28 days thingy and finally applied for the UKVI on 29*^(th)* July, 2026 and I was able to book my visa appointment for 31*^(st)* July, 2026 at VFS Global Services, Kolkata.
2. Procedure:
2.1. Visa Application form: The Visa application form is quite straightforward and the biggest advantage I had was the NTU Visa Guide which took me step by step and helped me input the accurate information that the form required. In most of the sections, it also helped me to understand what the form was asking. I believe you will be provided a guide by your university after you get your CAS statement. In case you do not get a guide, you can use any of the latest (this is very important because the visa regulations are changed/updated often) visa guides by any UK university (if you are applying in Scotland, I would suggest you find one by a Scottish University and so on and so forth for Northern Ireland and Wales).
2.1.1. At the end of the form, you get space to supplement any comments/additional information that you wish to be taken into account while your application is processed. In my case, I was asked to upload my birth certificate which would have both my parents' name on it. However that was not the case so I had to add the comments explaining that my birth certificate did not contain my mother's name and only had my father's name.
2.2. Tuberculosis Test: You can go through the country list on GOVUK to know if you require the test or not. Indians do.
2.2.1. One of the things I dislike about the whole procedure is the fact that they do not add the tuberculosis certificate in the mandatory documents required checklist, nor is there any way to know WHEN you will need this Tuberculosis Clearance Certificate (hereinafter referred to as "TCC"). In a hurry, I thought that I required the TCC to even submit the visa application form. I called the authorised diagnostics centre (Pulse Diagnostics, Kolkata) and was able to get an appointment for 27*^(th)* July, 2026, and after the testing, I received the TCC around evening time of the same day.
2.3. Payment for the Visa: Initially, reading the overview of the visa application form and also the available information on the UKVI website, I was under the impression that the visa fees is £558 which is correct, yes.
2.3.1. BUT BUT BUT turns out, you also have to pay an Immigrant Health Surcharge (IHS) which is £776 but they do not take that exact amount, they also take the conversion fees and it cost me Rs. 1,03,172.80/-. Throughout the entire application form, you will not see/read any information on the IHS payment. It's only when you try to submit your application and move to the "pay" section, you see the IHS which is mandatory, btw. After paying the IHS, only then you can pay the visa fees (£558) and then the form will be considered to be submitted.
P.S.: In case your visa is refused or you choose to withdraw the application, the IHS will be refunded.
2.4. UKVI Checklist: You will be given a checklist to download containing all the documents that you need to submit/upload (with the visa application centre not the GOVUK website) in support of your application form. Again, no mention of TCC as one of the documents to be uploaded, at the end of the checklist document they only state that you MIGHT need a TCC if you are from one of the countries in their list.
2.5. Visa Application Centre: From the GOVUK website, you will be redirected to VFS Global where you can book an appointment. I booked an appointment for 31*^(st)* July, 2026, and selected the free self-service as I could not find any thing that needed to be done that I myself could not do.
2.5.1. After booking the appointment, you get to login to VFS Global using your appointment reference number and your e-mail address whereafter you will find the section to upload all the supporting documents. I used Adobe Scan (it is a free app. I have an iPhone, and this app is available on both android and iOS) to take good and well lit scans, the app itself turns it into a PDF and you have the option to rename the file there itself. For the file name, ensure that the name does not contain any periods (.) or commas (,) only letters, numbers and hyphens are allowed. I uploaded them section by section and saved draft after uploading each section of documents to avoid being logged out. I did not once receive any error message saying that the file is corrupted or otherwise. Zero issues and was able to upload everything I wanted.
P.S.: It is a good idea to keep the names of the file very concise and clear. I put "Full Name - Birth Certificate", "Full Name - Passport", like this.
2.5.2. While uploading your documents with VFS, in one of the sections you will see "Medical Documents" and THAT IS where you have to upload your TCC.
2.5.3. Each time you upload something and save draft, you will receive an e-mail with an updated pdf of your visa appointment letter stating the document that you have uploaded. It is absolutely pertinent that you download and save the last PDF of the visa appointment letter you receive AFTER you finish uploading all the documents. Since, it is an option to upload documents till the very last moment before your visa appointment, shall you choose to upload anything at a later point of time, kindly do not forget to download the latest PDF of the visa appointment letter.
2.6. Visa appointment: Before the appointment, I read up on the documents/papers that I needed to take to my appointment. Every where (on the VFS global website itself), I kept reading that I need to take 2 physical copies of each document I have uploaded, including 2 copies of the UKVI checklist and 2 copies of the barcoded QR and 2 copies of the appointment letter.
2.6.1. At the appointment, they only asked me for the copy of the appointment letter along with my passport. That's all you need. After I was allowed to let in, they took my biometrics and scanned my passport. After my biometrics was done, they told me that I can go because I have already uploaded my documents so I do not need to do anything more. I asked them if they were forgetting something, that they might need the physical copies of my documents, the checklist or my passport for stamping. They informed me that UK is transitioning to eVisa so I do need to keep my passport with them nor did I need to give them any physical documents. No interview (at least so far), no nothing.
2.6.2. I was only told to create an account, eVisa UKVI account. After making the account, you just follow the instructions to link your visa reference number, passport details, etc., to the eVisa account for access.
I guess, this has been my journey so far.
N.B.: Please do not take the information provided here to be the ultimatum, you should always do your own research and keep the documents handy, just in case. Do not go forward thinking one size fits all - my visa type is Student Visa from India so if you are applying for another type or from another country, all the information provided hereinabove might not hold true for you. Also, case-to-case differences will always be there. For example, my brother went to the UK on a student visa in 2023 but he was interviewed.
It's only 8^(th) August, 2026 so I do not have a decision yet but the decision processing time for student visa is 3 weeks and 3 weeks from 31*^(st)* July, 2026, would put the decision deadline on 21*^(st)* August, 2026. I would like to add that the people at VFS centre told me that I would receive my decision within 15 days.
Please feel free to ask me anything you wish to know, I will try my best to answer everything. Lastly, I will update this post once I get my decision.