PhD applicant: will my visa get refused?

I am hoping to get an offer from a British university for a PhD program. I am doubting if I will get the visa though. I have the funds ready and of course the CAS will be ready too. Therefore I can claim all the points there, however there are some problems on which I'd like some suggestions/advice. This is my profile:

Finished MEng degree with first class honors from the UK (2012) and waited for a PhD interview. I got a conditional offer in 2011 with the condition that I do an MSc first. They also helped me with bursary. I applied for ATAS clearance but that came late so I missed my session. I had to wait for another year and I reapplied but due to the 5 year cap, UKBA refused my visa despite granting me all 40 points for the CAS and funds.

I was devastated by then. I then decided to apply to Canadian universities for PhD but they all wanted MSc degree (not MEng, which I had). One of the universities offered me a masters program and said once I am there, I may talk to my professors and switch to a research based program, eventually a PhD. I applied and got rejected. The visa officer said that I already have a degree from the UK and they are not convinced that I have sufficient ties with my home country.

Now I am having discussions with professors from my previous UK university and it seems like they will accept my application and accept me as a doctoral student. This is the problem:

- I have the money
- I have strong academic record
- I will have the CAS

But I don't know if they will grant me the visa at all! Will the use the 3 year gap that has been created due to these immigration issues against me? I'm also unemployed. Does this matter?

I'd really like to hear from others about what they think.

Regards,

Fahim

MSKF wrote:I am hoping to get an offer from a British university for a PhD program. I am doubting if I will get the visa though. I have the funds ready and of course the CAS will be ready too. Therefore I can claim all the points there, however there are some problems on which I'd like some suggestions/advice. This is my profile:

Finished MEng degree with first class honors from the UK (2012) and waited for a PhD interview. I got a conditional offer in 2011 with the condition that I do an MSc first. They also helped me with bursary. I applied for ATAS clearance but that came late so I missed my session. I had to wait for another year and I reapplied but due to the 5 year cap, UKBA refused my visa despite granting me all 40 points for the CAS and funds.

I was devastated by then. I then decided to apply to Canadian universities for PhD but they all wanted MSc degree (not MEng, which I had). One of the universities offered me a masters program and said once I am there, I may talk to my professors and switch to a research based program, eventually a PhD. I applied and got rejected. The visa officer said that I already have a degree from the UK and they are not convinced that I have sufficient ties with my home country.

Now I am having discussions with professors from my previous UK university and it seems like they will accept my application and accept me as a doctoral student. This is the problem:

- I have the money
- I have strong academic record
- I will have the CAS

But I don't know if they will grant me the visa at all! Will the use the 3 year gap that has been created due to these immigration issues against me? I'm also unemployed. Does this matter?

I'd really like to hear from others about what they think.

Regards,

Fahim

MEng means Master in Engineering same as MSc ( Master in Science ) so u don't really need to do another MSc just to satisfy PhD requirement.whichever university asking u to do MSc first is clearly wrong.Canadians were right to say u already hv masters degree !

U need to make this clear to ur potential universities that u already hv an accredited masters course.May I ask which uni u did ur MEng ? I'm sure u get an admission in PhD in any university in UK considering First class honors.

riz1986 wrote:

MSKF wrote:I am hoping to get an offer from a British university for a PhD program. I am doubting if I will get the visa though. I have the funds ready and of course the CAS will be ready too. Therefore I can claim all the points there, however there are some problems on which I'd like some suggestions/advice. This is my profile:

Finished MEng degree with first class honors from the UK (2012) and waited for a PhD interview. I got a conditional offer in 2011 with the condition that I do an MSc first. They also helped me with bursary. I applied for ATAS clearance but that came late so I missed my session. I had to wait for another year and I reapplied but due to the 5 year cap, UKBA refused my visa despite granting me all 40 points for the CAS and funds.

I was devastated by then. I then decided to apply to Canadian universities for PhD but they all wanted MSc degree (not MEng, which I had). One of the universities offered me a masters program and said once I am there, I may talk to my professors and switch to a research based program, eventually a PhD. I applied and got rejected. The visa officer said that I already have a degree from the UK and they are not convinced that I have sufficient ties with my home country.

Now I am having discussions with professors from my previous UK university and it seems like they will accept my application and accept me as a doctoral student. This is the problem:

- I have the money
- I have strong academic record
- I will have the CAS

But I don't know if they will grant me the visa at all! Will the use the 3 year gap that has been created due to these immigration issues against me? I'm also unemployed. Does this matter?

I'd really like to hear from others about what they think.

Regards,

Fahim

MEng means Master in Engineering same as MSc ( Master in Science ) so u don't really need to do another MSc just to satisfy PhD requirement.whichever university asking u to do MSc first is clearly wrong.Canadians were right to say u already hv masters degree !

U need to make this clear to ur potential universities that u already hv an accredited masters course.May I ask which uni u did ur MEng ? I'm sure u get an admission in PhD in any university in UK considering First class honors.

That's not true. MSc is more inclined towards applied science than MEng is. MEng is more geared towards the industry and MSc towards academia. In the UK, MEng is an UNDERGRADUATE degree while MSc is post-graduate. They are both masters level though!

My degree is from University of Hertfordshire. Honestly, I only ever struggle with immigration rules, not universities not offering me things. Cranfield University offered me a Phd but on the condition that I do a specific MSc first. They even helped me out with bursaries. However, due to the 5 year cap system, UKBA just showed me the finger!

I'm really worried about getting another refusal despite getting an offer for a PhD.

Well there is no cap on Phd so if u get a CAS from uni it wuld be fine. U can read Tier 4 caseworker guidance for more info. Just google it.
Are u applying outside the UK?

riz1986 wrote:Well there is no cap on Phd so if u get a CAS from uni it wuld be fine. U can read Tier 4 caseworker guidance for more info. Just google it.
Are u applying outside the UK?

I am not really worried about the cap. I'm worried because due to all these immigration hassles, I've lost about 3 years time. The caseworker might use that against me. It doesn't seem logical to me that after a panel of experts in that field interviewed me and tested me, a UKBA caseworker gets to have a final say on my credibility! Why don't they just outsource all the research grant distribution authority to UKBA caseworkers then. Let them decide who can or cannot pull it off.

Yes, I will be applying from outside the UK.