PLAB 2 Visa

PLAB 2 Visa - My Experiences

Disclaimer: The following content on the process of application of PLAB 2 Visa are the collection of all my personal experiences. What worked for me, might not work for you and vice versa. Each and every individual application is unique and thus needs scrutiny from their own perspective. I have outlined the process and strategies that have worked for me. Don't hesitate to ask your colleagues, seniors, and visa guide professionals if needed, and also try to take a general idea from this blog too.

Firstly, congratulations on passing your PLAB 1. You are now one step closer to your dream of living and working in the UK. From now on, you have to be both smart and proactive. I know most of you have already booked for PLAB 2 exam, planned for an accommodation in the UK, applied for PLAB 2 academy and has set aside the funds for this whole process. But then, a small error in your visa application will hit you hard both in terms of time and money. However, proper knowledge of each step, systematic preparation of documents, adequate planning and the transparency of each and every piece of evidence that you provide is the key to making a successful visa application.

An old saying, "learn  from your mistakes" is no more correct nowadays. Things are moving fast everywhere, and you can't afford to make all the mistakes yourself to learn from them. So, the better wording would be to learn from the mistake of others. Keeping this in mind, I began this journey of visa application from reading like more than 100 rejection letters out there in different forums. I analyzed each and every word that the entry clearance officer were mentioning  in their rejection letter. Understanding what assurance they want, the clauses on the ground of which they reject an application and the things that applicants generally miss in their list of documents is the essential step to start this journey.

After all these, I concluded that there are at least five different things they want in your application for them to be assured enough to grant you a visa. They are as follows:

1. You are genuinely seeking entry into the UK

2. You can fund the whole trip yourself and will not be the burden on their public funds

3. You have proper living arrangements while in the UK

4. You have sufficient ties back home that will obligate you to come back after your visit and will not overstay.

5. You have good immigration history (if present)

If you can provide genuine evidence to these five clauses, you will be good to go.

Documents required

Now the main challenge is to prepare the documents based on these clauses. My recommendation would be to go the following way:

1. To show that you are genuinely seeking entry: 
Present all of your academic qualification documents, like Primary medical qualification (graduation certificate),  practicing license from medical council, other postgraduate level qualifications (if any), evidence of English language competency (OET or IELTS), PLAB 1 result confirmation email from GMC and last but the most crucial document is the PLAB 2 booking confirmation email from GMC.

Generally, people make the first mistake here, by just showing the PLAB 2 booking confirmation. It will not clarify all your hard work till now and the success you have earned in your whole journey, and thereby you being the genuine entry seeker.

2. Showing that you have adequate finances to fund yourself for the whole trip is even more important than the first clause. It will assure the entry clearance officer that you will not work or recourse to the public funds during your stay. For this, you have to show the bank statements, balance certificates, salary certificates to tally the bank statements and tax clearance certificates (if any). If you are doing business, you have to show your business audits in this section. If you have house rent flowing in regularly to your account, you can show house rent agreement paper for this purpose. I will come to these parts in detail shortly in this blog.

3. You have to make proper living arrangements while in the UK. If you are visiting for a short period like 7-10 days, you can book a hotel, flat or spare rooms. However, if you are visiting the UK for a more extended period like 1-2 months, then booking a hotel will only add bulk to your total estimated cost. In such an instance, I would recommend you to stay at your family or friend's place if available and show the evidence for the same.

4. To ensure them that you have sufficient ties back home:
Prepare documents like No objection certificate from your employer, any properties on your name, any properties of your parents that you are looking after, relationship certificates with your family if they are dependent on you, etc.

5. If you have travelled anywhere else in the world and have clean immigration history, it will boost your application status. If you have travelled in a country like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, European Economic Area or to the UK itself, it will boost your application even further. Your passport will be the evidence on this section, and if you have any police clearance certificate or certificate of good standing (generally if you have worked abroad), then this will be your further plus point.

Collection of these documents

Now, after having a general idea of different type of documents, I will discuss in detail about each of them and their ways to collect.

1. All your academic documents should be original and stapler free. Print out your GMC emailed documents showing clearly the sender and receiver email address also.

2. For your finances, you must show your bank statements for the last six months. Some might argue that even three months of statements is enough or others might even say that bank statements are not necessary at all, and instead a balance certificate would suffice. They might be correct, but I won’t suggest you to do that. If you show your bank statements for as longer period as possible, it will show the transparency of your financial condition, which will always create a better impression. Of course, there should not be any bigger transaction near to your application date, and if there is one such, make sure you explain them properly with evidences in your cover letter. Also, don't forget to show balance certificates as well with proper conversion done on GBP from your local currency.

In this part, I would also recommend showing your parents or near family members, bank account statements and balance certificates. Having the maintenance of both your account and your sponsor's account will give a good impression, that in case of emergency you will not be money-less in a foreign country.

Now, the next question is, how much would be the adequate amount of bank

balance to show? Different people will opine differently here. There is no hard and fast rule as such. So, my suggestion to you here is to make your balance  look as practical as possible. If you intend to spend 2500 GBP on your UK trip, then at least 10,000 GBP should be the liquid asset available to you at any point of time (roughly four times the amount you are spending). Some might argue that having a balance of 4 times the amount estimated to be spent is not necessary at all. But if you look from a third person's perspective, it would be too impractical to spend almost all of your savings or even half of your savings in just one trip. No international traveller would do the same, and such should not be your case too.

Any regular amount that's been flowing in your bank account should be supported by evidence like salary certificate from your employer.

After you arrange this document, ask your sponsor to write a letter of support, mentioning the relation of your sponsor to you, your passport number, their bank account number and the amount they intend to support in your trip. In my case, apart from this letter of support, I also prepared an affidavit statement from the sponsor. Act smart here. There is no proper evidence that the letter of support from your sponsor is written and signed by them. To assure the officers about the genuineness of such letter also prepare an affidavit statement. It is a kind of statement containing oath which is legally signed in front of a notary public officer. It will give less chance for anyone to suspect.

Explaining your finances is the most critical part of your application, and I have seen hundreds of rejection letters made alone from this clause.

3. Regarding the evidence of your living arrangement, if you are staying in a hotel, show the booking confirmation, clearly stating your check-in and check-out date. If you are staying in your family or friend's place, provide a coloured copy of their passport, their invitation letter expressing interest to accommodate you for the given time, and a tenancy agreement of their residence with the landlord.

4. To show your ties back home, ask your employer to provide you a 'No objection letter'.  Your 'No objection letter' must mention your leave period, and those leave should better be an unpaid one.  Many of you might think that even being unemployed can provide you with a visa. Although people have got visas without being employed, there will be very little evidence in their part to show, for having a proper reason to return home. So in my view, being employed is a must.
Besides, property valuation statement (with conversion to GBP from local currency), relationship certificate made from the ward, VDC or local government office, land ownership documents, etc. all will show your ties back home. Make sure all of these documents are in English, or otherwise do an official translation from Notary Public office and put both translated and original copies in your application.

5. Finally regarding your immigration history, in your cover letter explain all the places you have visited and show their proper evidence in your passport.

Preparing a cover letter

 I have seen many people getting their visa even without a cover letter. A cover letter is not in the list of must-have document. However, when I read rejection letters, the officer often mentions the following lines: "you have explained the following things, etc., and that I am not satisfied" on their reason for rejection. I am sure those explanations must have come from the cover letter. So there is enough evidence on the fact that they do read your cover letters too. Always be on the safer side, do keep a cover letter on your application.

Addressing the entry clearance officer of the respective place, prepare a self-explanatory cover letter. Do not put a lot of paragraphs in your letter, instead explain in tabulated form to grab the attention of the reader quickly through the important parts of your application. Your cover letter must have the following headings

1. Printed application form

2. Purpose of visit

3. Reason to take PLAB exam

4. Educational timeline

5. Family members and their details

6. Employment history

7. Financial sponsorship: Personal saving and the saving of your sponsor

8. Immigration history

9. Ties at home

10. A living arrangement in the UK

11. Itineraries and estimated cost

12. Miscellaneous documents

And the summary of your application on the last page with your signature.

Make sure; this letter is in your own words. Do not copy from anywhere. Visa officer has read such letter like more than 1000 times, and they can easily catch on the part that you are copying and on the part that you are writing on your own. Your each and every statement should be backed by evidence. It makes the letter more authentic and genuine.

Applying Online

 1. Go to the following website

https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/uk-visit-visa 

First, select a language and create an account. Then start filling details of your

personal information, passport details, employment, income and expenditure, planned travel information, dependent details, parent details, family in UK, accommodation details and travel history. Then you have to answer a lot of other legal questions. Do not falsify any facts here. If you are caught, you will be barred from any application for the next ten years. You can fill this form in multiple settings too. There is always an option of "save and exit" at the end of each page.

After completing this form, you can either pay online in USD or opt to pay at the visa application centre in your local currency.

After completing these steps, you will be redirected automatically to the web page of the visa application centre.

2. This automatic redirection will also create a user account automatically in the visa application centre website. Then you can book an appointment in the centre and opt-in or opt-out for the various services they provide. I only took their document scanning service and opted out of all other services.

3. Print out the online application confirmation page and a page with your appointment at the centre

Going to the Visa Application Centre

1. Take your confirmation page, appointment letter, all the original documents and your passport. Go to the centre and complete all their processes.

2. Take a token and wait for your turn. When your turn arrives, hand over all your documents and wait till they scan them.

3. Then wait for your turn for biometrics. When your turn arrives, give your fingerprints and photograph as instructed.

4. Get back your all original documents (except passport) and your payment receipt before coming back from the centre

5. After 7-15 working days, you will receive an email stating that the decision has been made to your application. Be patient and wait for either three working days or the second email

6. After either three working days of first email or the second email with the request to collect passport (whichever is earlier) go to the centre again and collect your passport.

If your visa application is accepted, you will get your passport back with a visa sticker, if not, then you will also be handed over the rejection letter with the reason for rejection.

Is that all?

That's not the complete story. Even after getting a PLAB 2 Visa, you have to clear immigration at UK border agency. To know about the process there, follow this blog.

Use the comment section below for further questions.