Sunday: Living Abroad!

I'm hoping to make Sunday the day I talk about my experience living abroad. I lived in London for 10 months. It was one of the greatest things I have ever done and I'm so glad to have that experience.

However it also held a lot of challenges. It isn't as simple as packing a bag and finding a flat. There are so many steps and i plan to share my experience and detail the process. It definitely won't be the same for every country. England is known for having a difficult immigration policy and enforcement. They have good reasons for it but it's definitely a challenge. And once you jump through all the hoops it becomes an adventure.

Obviously the first step is deciding where you want to live. When I was a kid I didn't care, but I wanted to live somewhere else. And I had the perfect opportunity. I graduated from college a semester early and spent the time living with friends and working as a nanny. I wanted more. I began applying to graduate schools, wanting to study Sociology. I applied to UW in my home state, and USC nearby. On a complete whim I applied to the London School of Economics.

I had been to London once before for two weeks. It was a part of my study abroad program 2 years before. And I had fallen in love with the perfect city. Everything was charming. I loved the history and mix of old and new buildings. I was determined to go back. And to my complete shock, the week of my 23rd birthday, after getting rejected and wait listed from a bunch of schools, I was accepted to LSE. I thought about the offer letter for about a minute, called everyone I knew, sent it back in with a shout of glee and began the long 6 months that would get me to London. The program went from September-June (a ten month program, shorter than most) with the final thesis due in December. I was ecstatic! I would be getting my Masters in Sociology from LSE!

There was so much to do. A checklist came and I slowly started the process. I had to do several things at once, but first the complicated visa process. The US and the UK may be allies but they are not friendly for long term visa applicants. The visa application process had JUST changed so it meant additional complications just for me. And a new system for the two governments. I applied for a Tier 3 Student Visa. This meant I could be a student for 2 years before needing to change to another visa if I was going to stay longer in the UK. I also was able to work up to 20 hours a week, part time.

First (1) I needed money. For my program I had to prove I could financially support myself while in their country. I had other loans from undergrad too. But this was a priority for me. I had to cover the cost of tuition and additional fees for housing and other costs. The total needed was just about 40,000. It seemed like a lot, and it is, but the price of two years at USC would have been about 65,000 or more. And i would not be in London. Grad school is expensive but for me it was the right decision. That meant a long talk with the friendly people at Sallie Mae. I was initially approved for half of it, $20,000).

Then (2) I needed visa photo and finger printing. I went to Walgreens and took simple passport photos that i would take to the visa office. The fingerprinting was done by appt about 30 minutes from my home, in Santa Ana, CA, in July 2009. It was a long line of people wanting to change their circumstances. The unfriendly staff went over every detail of my paperwork, scanned my fingerprints digitally, and sent me away with a good luck and don't get into too much trouble.

Next (3) I made an appt with the British visa office 2 hours from my house, in Santa Monica, CA, the first week of August. They are only in big cities so I was glad I lived that close even. I waited about 20 minutes and a nice British woman said my background check and paperwork were fine BUT I needed to prove the full amount. I left without a visa and a furious call to Sallie Mae again. Luckily my aunt and uncle graciously helped me with the other half as I waited for the loan money to go through.

So (4) I was back the next week (difficult to get an appt) at the visa office with the full scary amount in my bank account ad all my paperwork in order. I held my breathe at the counter as she looked everything and finally approved it. She took my paperwork and my passport (scary). I went home finally believing this was going to happen.

(5) About a month later I received my passport in the mail. It looked just the same but with a full page devoted to a colorful British student visa. It was new and exciting and I was full of anticipation for what was to come!!!

So that's the visa process. I know it's specific to my situation but it does explain some of the steps in order to move abroad. The British visa system is complicated but any visa process has challenges that you can and will slowly work through to get where you need to go. Good luck!