I just encountered a blog post written by a fellow UBC student titled “Hell: The Story of a Girl and Her Visa Application.”
I feel vindicated.
Both International House and Cardiff University advise that you apply for your student visa ahead of time. Being a goody-two-shoes, I started two months in advance. I filled out all the electronic paperwork. I hunted down all the obscure documentation I needed. I navigated the endless do-loop of the UK Immigration Site. I paid my $127 fee to the strange India-headquartered third-party application processor. I called the British consulate twice for instructions (the first time, I got a robot, and the second time, I got passed from arm to arm of the bureauctopus and ended up back at square one). I even drove to downtown Portland for a biometrics appointment. Then I hit a dead end and ran out of time to mail in my passport for verification.
So I had to do what everybody told me not to, and wait to apply at Heathrow.
At the border, it took 45 seconds. The only document I had to show was my acceptance letter. I got my passport stamped and off I went.
My advice? Save yourself the headache. Apply at the border.