Throughout whole PLAB journey, I felt most stressed during visa application process. It was so messy and confusing. Even with the help from senior PLABers, there was so many unanswered questions.

Let’s get to work-

How to start:

First go to Access UK platform and start answering questions one after another. Before finally submitting the application you can change your answers. So first give it a go and fill up all the questions to get an idea about all of them. While providing information, fill up all the information according to your passport(that’s your base if there’s any confusion like spelling of name etc.) You need to provide information about-

# Personal Information:

*Your Name
*Passport Number
*Nationality
*Date of birth
*Type of visa
*NID number
*Contact Email

# Travel Infromation:

*Date of Arrival
*Date of departure
*Total Duation of Visit
*Reason for visit
*Details of your visit

# Passport details
# Dependent details:
# Parent details:
# Employment status:
# Income & Expenditure details:
# Information regarding any family member in UK
# Accomodation details
# Previous travel history to UK & other countries
# Other history
# Infrormation regarding conviction and other penalties
# Extra information
# Documents
# Payment
# Declaration

Remember, you can change any information any time before final submission and also can fill it up part by part over days.

Documents need to submit:

*Printed pdf of the completed online application.
*Printed pdf of the documents checklist.
* Passport.
*Email confirmation of PLAB 2 booking.
*Cover letter
*All papers regarding MONEY.

• Letter of support
• Affidavit of Sponsorship
• Solvency Certificate
• Bank Statements
• Income Certificate
• All other papers you deemed necessary to prove your cause as stated in the letter of support

*Evidence of home address (A Nationality Certificate, OR Home Utility Bill)
*Accommodation in the UK (Letter of invitation/Hotel Booking, Utility bill and Council Tax bill of the address you’ll be staying at)
*Evidence of family members whilst you travel (Passport Copies of your family members, OR National ID copies-translated and notarized)
*Own National ID copy-translated and notarized
*Email confirming passing in PLAB 1 and GMC reference no. details
*Copy of Primary Medical qualification certificate
*Copy of Internship Completion Certificate.
*Booking confirmation of PLAB 2 Course from Academy
*Copy of IELTS test report form.
*If you are employed-

• Certification from your employer, be it a voluntary or paid job.
• No Objection Certificate from your employer.

*ANY OTHER PAPERS, which might be different from my case to you, like marriage certificate etc.

How to collect documents:

You need to collect only 4-5 documents.

1) Write a cover letter & Letter of support (if you have a sponsor) first. There are templates for both in Dr. Ivan’s blog. Edit it with your own information. You are good to go.
2) Then you need to contact with bank and collect 2 documents: Solvency Certificate, Bank Statements for last 6 months
3)If you submit Nationality Certificate as evidence of home address translate it & notarized it. You can collect it from Chairman’s office or Ward Commissioner’s office.
4) Collect Income Certificate from your regional tax office. Ask them to issue it in English so that you don’t have to translate & notarize.
5)For Affidavit of Sponsorship, you need to talk to an advocate.  They will arrange for everything. I did it from Chittagong. In Dhaka, if you contact with shops opposite National press club they will arrange it for you. You can write your own using template from Dr. Ivan’s blog.

That’s all. Now you are ready to submit your visa application.

 

How to book a date for visa application submission:

Once you declare and submit your visa application, they will show available date and time slot. Usually, dates are available within 1-2 days.

How to submit:

Before going to submit, make two sets of all essential documents. One is original and one is photocopy.
Arrange both sets in following order-

1.Passport
2. Copy of National ID
3. A letter from the relevant UK authority confirming arrangements:
a) PLAB 2 booking confirmation from GMC UK.
4. Other documents related to General Medical Council (GMC), UK:
a) PLAB 1 passing letter and test results.
b) GMC Reference Number details.
5. Academic Certificates:
a) Copy of MBBS certificate.
b) Copy of Internship Completion Certificate
c) Copy of IELTS UKVI Test Report Form.
6. Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) certificate of full registration.
7. Evidence of family members in home country whilst I travel:
8. Evidence of Home Address:
9. Accommodation in UK:
10.PLAB 2 preparatory course booking confirmation at your course.
11. Documents related to financial Sponsorship

Don’t forget to photocopy your whole passport including empty pages. They will ask for it.

With all documents and visa fee, go to VFS global at Delta tower(Gulshan-2) and take a token from ground floor security and go to 5^th floor. Wait there until it’s your turn. You will have 45 minutes to complete all procedures.

The officer at counter will check if you have all the required documents and will tell you to pay the visa fee in nearby counter. After that she will give you a slip as a proof which you need to receive your passport later.

How long it will take to get a decision:

It will take around 7-14 working days to get an email telling you to receive your documents from VFS global.

Tips:

# For notary and translation, you can go to Purana Paltan Moore. There are several translation centers & will take around 100-150 per document for notary & translation.
# If there’s any problem with spelling of your/parents name & address, stick with the one written in passport.
# About money, there’s no definite rule. But it is good to have in your bank account more than triple the amount you are planning to spend during your trip. The type of bank account also doesn’t matter. You can show all kinds of account like current account, savings account, FDR etc.
You can also show any other types of property with proper documentation like house, share etc. But you must have adequate cash (at least double the amount you’re going to spend) in your bank account.
# For accommodation, academy won’t give you any letter unless you pay in advance. If you are not willing to do it, you can just submit the email stating that you have booked accommodation with academy. Another way is using booking.com. You can book a cheap hotel for few days without paying and submit confirmation email as proof.
# VFS global is very notorious. Sometimes they want to take extra money from you for “walk in’’ showing some vague reason. Don’t fall for this trap.
# You can endorse Pound from Money exchanger but the limit is 600 USD and no documents required. You can endorse more than that from money exchanger but can’t show it legally in your passport. If you need to endorse more money & need to show it your passport, then go to a bank. You need to bring plane ticket with you. I don’t the reason behind this bizarre rule. [ No need to endorse money before visa]

Things to do after getting visa for PLAB 2:

# Booking flight: First thing you should do after getting visa for PLAB 2 is to book a flight. You can do it online. You can directly fly to London/Manchester according to your choice. You need to book a round trip. That way, it will be cheaper. If you want to change your return date, you can do it with extra 50-100 USD before your flight.

if you need to take a connecting flight, try to keep a 2-3 hours gap between two flights’ arrival & departure.

Also, most airlines offer online check in 24-48 hours before. So if you want to avoid standing in a queue.

# Shopping: I can assure you that everything you need for everyday life, you can buy it in UK. The price is also reasonable. So no need to shop unnecessary things. Don’t buy Jacket or other winter clothes from BD. It’s cheaper & better in UK. Just buy regular clothing and necessary books for exam purpose. Don’t forget to buy a good trolley bag & side bag. It will save you from a lot of trouble.

You can try this packing list by travelsmith: https://www.travelsmith.com/images/travelsmith/en_us/local/page_specific/customer-service/packing-list.pdf

#Money Endorsement: If you want to take money legally from BD to outside, you need to endorse it in your passport. It can be done from Money Exchager/Any bank. But, you can’t endorse more than 600 USD from money exchange. If you need more than that go to a bank and take your passport & photocopy of passport and flight ticket with you.

# Documents: Have a set of photocopy of all documents that you’ve submitted for visa application. Have your itinerary printed and ready. Keep your passport, ticket and money with you safely always.

What happens during Immigration:

Both in BD & UK immigration, I didn’t face anything awkward. Specially UK immigration officers were super friendly. As soon as they know you are doctor coming for PLAB, they won’t ask you anything. So no need to worry.

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Don’t forget to read these blogs:
1) https://roadtouk.com/2017/08/01/uk-visa-for-plab-online-visa-application/
2) https://roadtouk.com/2017/08/02/uk-visa-for-plab-supporting-documents/
3 https://roadtouk.com/2017/08/03/uk-visa-for-plab-final-preparation/

Best of Luck.

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Dr. Qamar Uddin Hejazi
MBBS (DMC)