How to track your visa application to UK

Have you applied for UK visa and waiting for the decision? Have patience and keep calm, there isn't much that you can do.

- As of now, truly speaking there is no direct way to track your visa application. Neither the official UK site (one where you applied online) nor the VFG global site (one where you took appointment) provide any update about your application progress.
- But you can purchase sms service which sends you message once it is processed.
- By default, you are supposed to receive email notification from VFS for processing so there is not any need to purchase sms service.
- There is one way to track the delivery of your processed visa application, once it is dispatched, by tracking at the Blue Dart. You simply navigate to tracking page of Blue Dart and use your visa application reference number and select 'Ref No.' option. Reference numbers looks like this: GWF*********.
- There are paid services to call and email for asking the progress about your visa

PRIORITY VISA: I attended biometrics collection at VFS centre on 16 April then it was sent to UK VI office Delhi on the same day. 17th was national holiday and then it was processed and accepted on 18th (because letter carries that date). Now 19-21 were holidays and meanwhile it was sent back to VFS office and from there picked by BlueDart on 23rd evening and received the message that application has been processed on the same day, i.e., 4 working days (excluding holidays) and total 8 days including both dates. It was delivered by 25 April.


Thanks
Vinod

MEX compilation issue on Octave but works on MATLAB

I have multiple C++ files in a project. These compile perfectly on MATLAB but do not compile on Octave. There can be 'n' reasons for this problem but I am discussing one case which could lead to such situation.

Assumption: Both MATLAB and Octave are working with the C++ compiler properly.

Issue: In MATLAB you can specify multiple source files using '*.cpp' and that compiles properly but in Octave that does not seem to work and displays the following error:

Error: "clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
warning: mkoctfile: building exited with failure status"

Solution: Simply specify all source files with their name and don't use '*' in compilation command.

Example: 
With problem:
mex -I.. -I./code -I./code1 -I./code2 main.cpp ./code1/*.cpp ./code2/*.cpp

With solution:
mex -I.. -I./code -I./code1 -I./code2 main.cpp ./code1/s1.cpp ./code2/s2.cpp

I did not find the solution to my problem. So I created a small project and after great efforts and with luck, I got the solution. And thought, it's my responsibiltiy to make this solution available to you. You can find see the mex code example with multiple sources files here.

How to get transcript from Himachal Pradesh University Shimla for UK NARIC

I applied to UK and for that I had to prove my English language efficiency. Due to lack of time, I could not take IELTS exam so I thought of going with plan B, i.e., to get UK NARIC statement for my English language efficiency. Follow the steps to get it for you:

1. Apply for transcript in HPU and it needs following things from you-
a. Photocopy of degree
b. Photocopy of detailed mark sheet
c. Name and address of the organisation where you want to send transcript.
e. Pay fee of Rs. 5000.
2. You will get it on the same day or the next day.

There was a lot of confusion for applying to UK NARIC to me because in order to apply for UK NARIC statement, I needed three things degree, transcript and English language as medium of instruction certificate from the University and the confusions were:
a. First as per the definition of transcript, given on NARIC, it is something like detailed marks-sheet which contains the details of all subjects you have studied from first semester to last, and HPU, by default, provides students detailed mark sheet with all the required information.
b. In India, I believe, transcript is treated as a confidential document which verifies the degree details and contain one line related to medium of instruction. So it should be given on some institution's name and generally posted by the university directly to that institution (or given in sealed envelope). But in my case, I was suppose to upload it to NARIC website so I was in doubt whether this would be accepted or not.
c. HPU doesn't provide separate English language certificate as I required and as shown on the demos of application on the NARIC website.
So keeping in view to all these things, I was in doubt to get the NARIC statement. Because HPU's transcript served as English language as medium of instruction certificate. But all these things worked and I was able to get the UK NARIC statement for English Language Efficiency and Comparability statement for my HPU degree.

Since I faced a lot of confusion in this process so I am sharing with a hope that it will help you.

Thanks
Vinod

Other helpful and related blogs:
Blank Surname in Passport issue for UK Visa
How to prove English Language Efficiency for UK Visa?
How to track your visa application to UK

Dedicated to my parents...

Blank Surname in Passport issue for UK Visa

I applied for UK Visa and I had a surname related problem. In my passport, my surname is empty. My hosting institution (Cambridge Univ) says, surname is very important in UK and it has to be specified on the documents. So I contacted UK Visas and Immigration office and raised the question then they suggested me to use the given name in both the places, i.e., for given name and surname name. For example:
In passport my given name is 'Vinod Kumar' and surname is empty so they suggest to use given name as 'Vinod Kumar' and surname as 'Vinod Kumar'.
Please note that all these inquiry services are paid and I have to pay around Rs. 500 to get the answer to my question so I thought of sharing this with you to save your time and money. And yes, this worked as my visa application was successful.

Other helpful and related blogs:
How to get transcript from Himachal Pradesh University Shimla for UK NARIC
How to prove English Language Efficiency for UK Visa?
How to track your visa application to UK

Dedicated to my gurus....

How to prove English Language Efficiency for UK Visa?

I applied for the Tier 2 Visa to UK and for that I had to prove my English language proficiency. Remember this is a point based visa and English language efficiency have 10 points. You have only two options to prove it, as discussed below:

1. Taking Exams
You can take exams like 'IELTS for UKVI' (academic or general). You need only CEFR level B1 for Tier 2 visa, which is equivalent to IELTS 4-5 band. Pay attention, you need a specific type of IELTS test and that is for UKVI.

2. UK NARIC Statement
If your bachelor or master or PhD degree was in English medium then you need not to worry for taking IELTS exam because you can get a UK NARIC statement to prove your English efficiency. You need three things to get your UK NARIC statement: photocopy of your degree, transcript and English language certificate. Follow the following steps:
a. Navigate to UK NARIC
b. Create your individual account
c. Select Visas and Nationality service.
Be careful here. We need two things, one certificate for English efficiency and second for the UK equivalent of our degree. So we need to select the Visas and Nationality service because it is customised service for visas and immigration purposes and contains both the certificates. You will see separate service for English language efficiency and Comparability service but you are not supposed to select that.
d. Select processing type and delivery options.
You can select faster processing by paying extra for processing and for delivery options. They process documents in 10 days (standard service), 48 hours and 24 hours option + delivery time of around 7 days.

NOTE: For other visas like Tier 4 (student visa), it is not necessary to take any of these options because it depends upon the hosting university as they they can waive off the English requirements.

Other helpful and related blogs:
How to get transcript from Himachal Pradesh University Shimla for UK NARIC
Blank Surname in Passport issue for UK Visa
How to track your visa application to UK

Dedicated to parents....