EU, EEA & Swiss Citizens

For the most up to date information on living in the UK following Brexit, visit UK government website

Other Countries

If you are from a country that is not part of the EEA a normal holiday visa will not be enough for you to come and study with us. Holiday visas are only issued for up to 6 months. However, there are three other ways you can obtain a visa to enter the UK and study on LIFE Church College:

Please note: If students are moving from abroad and are married or/and have children (Under the age of 18) we require their partner and children to move to the UK with them for the duration of the course. We will not accept students if their partners/kids are going to be living in a different nation whilst they are on the course here in the UK.

a) Ancestry Visa

This visa is available to those who have at least 1 grandparent who was born in the UK. It is a 5-year visa that will allow you to work without restriction in the UK. This visa must be applied for from outside of the UK.

b) Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa

This visa is available to those aged 18-30 who live in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Monaco. It is a 2-year visa that will allow you to work without restriction in the UK.

c) Tier 5 Charity Worker Visa

LIFE Church College is a registered visa sponsor with the UK Border Agency. This allows us to issue sponsorship certificates for visa applicants to the Tier 5 category under the heading of ‘Charity Workers’.

This visa category allows individuals to enter the UK for 12 months, be a volunteer at Life Church and complete one year on the college programme.

PLEASE NOTE: We are only able to offer individual sponsorship. We are unable to sponsor individuals who want to be on College and bring family with them. We also require that if an individual is married that their spouse will need to be based in Bradford UK, at the same time. Unfortunately we are not able to sponsor the spouse’ visa and the applicant would need their spouse to have a different visa arrangement to be in the UK.

Every country is slightly different, and you will need to check the exact requirements with the British Embassy in your nation, but these are the general requirements in order for your visa application to be accepted:

  1. A sponsor (LIFE Church College
  2. Relevant documentation from the sponsor including: sponsorship certificate and invitation letters
  3. Holding £900 in your bank account for at least a three month period prior to the application
  4. No previous immigration offences
  5. Applications for the visas must be completed and processed in your own nation

In order for us to be able to issue you a certificate of sponsorship and create the documents for you to apply for the visa you will need to:

  1. Complete an application for the LIFE Church College and be accepted
  2. Show us evidence to prove you have a plan to support yourself financially whilst you are here
  3. Provide us with valid passport details
  4. Pay the £20 fee for the sponsorship applicationOnce the certificate and relevant letters have been issued you have up to 3 months to apply for your visa with the British Embassy in your country. The process generally takes up to 28 days.

Please note:
We cannot guarantee that you will be accepted for your visa even after we have issued your sponsorship certificate.

You have to make the application for the visa whilst you live within your country. You are unable to make the application whilst here in the UK

For the most up to date information about the Charity Worker visa please visit the UK Border Agency website (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/)

Oversees Students & Standards of English

Although LIFE Church College is not a formal university or college we do still have a level of English that we need to see demonstrated by applicants in order to confidently accept them onto the course.

Students will need to complete a series of written assignments as well as several spoken presentations throughout the year, so a good level of writing, speaking, listening and reading is required. International students may be familiar with the IELTS testing system. We require a level of English around 5.0 on their assessment scale in order for students to be able to handle the demands of the college.

We will make an assessment of applicant’s levels of English as we interact with them through email communication, their application form and their interview. If at any point we feel that the applicant has a level of English that may be less than adequate we will ask them to complete a short English test that we can send via email. If the results of this are inconclusive we may ask them to complete an IELTS test if they have the resources to be able to do so. To find out more about IELTS test please visit their website www.ielts.org. If an applicants level of English is deemed to be below the standard we require we will encourage them to take English lessons and re-apply once they improve.