UK opens its priority and super priority visa for Indian students

The UK government has opened its expensive priority and super priority visas for students applying from India. Due to the huge demand and long waiting period the government has taken this decision. Applicants need to pay to avail of this service. With priority visa service the decision comes in five days and it costs an additional £500. Whereas the super priority visa costs £800 and the decision comes with it in a day.

Although the UK says the processing of regular student visas is about 15 days, however, nowadays it is taking longer than that.

British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said in an update for Indian students going to the UK this fall that priority and super priority visas are now available for students because of high demand. He said, “….we are beating our own records for the number of student visas which we have issued globally until June 2022. This coming academic year with you will get even more and Indian is the number one source country of students coming to the UK. So if you are going to study in the UK this year, please apply for your visa now."

He further added, “Make sure that you've included the right documentation. That is the offer letter from the university, the CAS, the TB certificates and your proof of funding. If you want... can apply for the priority visa which gets you there with turnaround about five days or a super priority visa even quicker than that. At the moment, we're dealing with student visas in about 15 days. There is huge demand. So please, Indian students great that want to come to the UK. Apply now, get the documentation right."

As per the official website, “If you’re eligible you can choose the ‘priority service’ when you apply. It costs £500 in addition to the application fee. You’ll get a decision within five working days. The time starts from either the day of your appointment… (or)… working day after you finished uploading your documents…”.

For those who wish to get a decision by the next working day, the website says, “You’ll get a decision: by the end of the next working day after your appointment, if your appointment is on a weekday (or) two working days after your appointment, if your appointment is at the weekend or on a bank holiday,”.

Recently, the British High Commissioner announced that “Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas in the year ending June 2022.”

As per the latest UK Immigration Statistics, almost 118,000 Indian students received a student visa in the year ending June 2022. This is a staggering increase of 89% from the previous year. This states that India overtakes China as the largest nationality that issued sponsored study visas in the UK.