United Kingdom is a prime destination for overseas students from Asia , Middle East and Africa. Overseas students may engage in work for up to 20 hours per week during a semester without prior approval. Students who are given leave to remain for more than 12 months are eligible for medical services offered by NHS. Recent amendments to immigration rules allow graduating students to apply for and hold jobs for up to 12 months after graduation. Under newly points based immigration system, applicants with UK qualifications are granted points.

British Council, a UK based charity, through its local offices worldwide provides counseling to prospective students and trains foreign teachers in English languages courses. IELTS exams are held under the supervision of British Council offices in many countries. British Council provides basic visa related information to students and in certain circumstances acts as a liaison between students and Visa Section of British High Commissions. Although one can Google a course name to get search results, such a search may not yield the intended results. The search results will include admission contacts and links to university’s web site. You will be given options to request college brochures, Virtual Tours, and you may apply to the college with click of a button.

For international students , the next step ,after getting placement at a UK college, will be to apply for Entry Clearance into United Kingdom. Students from European Economic Area are sparred this step as they are allowed to come into United Kingdom without an Entry Clearance. Due to high demands at certain visa offices and security measures, this process can take up to three months before Entry Clearance is issued. Thus you must leave yourself enough room to make it to your destination UK on time.

The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain, which includes the countries England, Wales and Scotland, along with Northern Ireland. It is basically a comfortable combination of villages and urban city life where some old manufacturing cities are found still functioning.

English is the common language of the country United Kingdom. There are some people who speak Gaelic in Scotland, and Welsh in Wales. However, most of the people here are bilingual as it is compulsory to study two languages in school here. When visiting United Kingdom, there are basically not many health precautions to be taken.

The climate in United Kingdom is very varied with snow in April, sunbathing possible in February and a slight drizzle present nearly the whole year through. However, rains tend to be heavier in the month of November. Though Scotland experiences snow, it cannot be considered to be a skier’s paradise as the snowfall here is unpredictable. The Welsh coast and Northern Ireland have a warm summer, but the people here head to Britain in the summer to be in the sunniest spot of the country of United Kingdom.

Food wise, everyone will find something to suit their tastes as there is a large range of restaurants serving a variety of food in Britain. Surprisingly, the country’s most popular dish is the Indian dish, chicken tikka masala! There are also Chinese, Italian, Thai and traditional dishes like fish and chips, roast lamb, and desserts like rhubarb crumble or trifle all served in restaurants here. The famous food of the Scots is haggis and neeps, while the Welsh are famous for laver bread and Welsh rarebit. Drinking is a favorite with the British, but most pubs close at 11 pm because of licensing laws.

When in the United Kingdom, you have to buy some tea, high street fashions, souvenirs of football, rugby and cricket and of course Scotch whisky when you return home. Umbrellas here too are very decorative, with designs like the London Underground and Union flag a famous lot. If you love choir music, then you have to take along with you a recording of Welsh male choirs to take you back to its valleys when you return home!

The currency here is the British pound, and they have no plans of joining the Euro. However, it is better to have cheque in Sterling to avoid extra costs that the exchange places charge. You can reach the United Kingdom through air, ferry and for internal traveling; you find a good train service. For your communication needs, you can buy phone cards and calling cards from the many booths there are in United Kingdom to make the necessary phone calls you need. Mobile phones can be bought either through the internet or from stores; but the internet phones cost considerably cheaper. Several prepaid calling card and phone card companies are available to call both to and from United Kingdom.