UK short-term student visitor visa: Help

[ukstudyvisa1]

Hi,

I know this might not be directly related to Tier 4, but I'm posting my enquiry here just because it might be useful for those who are still undecided between getting a Tier 4 student or short-term student visitor visa. Also, it could serve as a guideline for those applying for the Tier 4 visas, since the questions I pose here might be relevant to some of their visa application questions as well.

I'm a non-EU student who is planning to go to the UK for exchange (for a semester) which will officially start in around mid September and end in mid December. From what I understand, this short term student visitor visa allows us to remain in the UK for up to 6 months.

Although my school term technically officially ends in mid December, I'm concerned that there might be problems happening at the last minute pertaining to my school such as exam schedules and such.

Also, I do plan to visit other British cities aside from the one I will be in exchange for in late December and possibly early January 2016.

In my visa application, I'm prompted the question of how long I intend to stay in the UK. I'm planning to indicate my response as 4 months (meaning until mid January). But given that my university acceptance letter indicates mid December as the end of the school term, do you think indicating 4 months as the intended period of stay in the UK would be a good idea? Or would I risk having my application being delayed or even denied?

Should I be worried about this?

[sah10406]

Paragraph A57D (b) of the Immigration Rules confirms that a Short Term student must "[intend] to leave the UK at the end of the study or at the end of 6 months whichever is sooner".

There is no specific rule about how long *before* the course you can come to the UK, so given the above rule it will be best to do your other activities before your studies, not after.