Moving to Oxford from abroad can be a challenge even for the most experienced globetrotter. Here you will find some information to make the change smoother. Moreover, you can find loads of useful tips online. Have a look at these websites:

Oxford International Students' Handbook - produced by Oxford University Student Union, this is a very comprehensive welfare resource designed specifically for international students at the University of Oxford. Highly recommended!

The UK Council for International Student Affairs

The British Council website for international students

Oxford University website - section for international students

International Student Guide (from Oxford's Student Funding and International Office)

The Oxford University Student Union - section for international students

Immigration matters

First of all, you should check the Oxford University website, where you will find the answers to most of the questions about the formalities needed to enter the UK.

If you are an EEA or Swiss student, moving to England is pretty straightforward. You just need a passport or national identity card (we do advise you to have a passport, since the formalities at the border will be much quicker). You don’t need to register once you're here, unless you are moving to the UK with family members who are not EEA or Swiss citizens. If you are Bulgarian or Romanian, you will need a student registration certificate. Please check this section of the Home Office website for more information.

If you are coming from outside the EEA/Switzerland, you will need to apply for a student visa. The procedures vary from country to country, so you should contact the nearest British diplomatic post (Embassy or High Commission) for detailed information. You can also check the UK Border Agency website. Generally speaking, you should apply for a visa as soon as you can, even though you cannot get your visa post-dated by more than three months. The documents to be included with your application may vary, but as a general rule you will need:

• A valid passport
• A letter from the university confirming that you have been accepted on a course of study
• Evidence of financial support

Moreover, if you are not an EU/Swiss national and you are applying for a postgraduate research programme in certain science, engineering and technology subjects, you have to get an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) certificate before you can apply for a visa to come to the UK. You can apply for the ATAS certificate online here.

Upon arrival in the UK, you might also be required to register with the police (this will be signalled by a special stamp on your passport). You have to register within seven days from your arrival. You can register with the police at the main police station in Oxford, on St. Aldates.

Opening a bank account

[See also this Guide to Opening a Bank Account in Oxford (copied from the University's International Office).]

Opening a bank account in the UK can be a little bit tricky. Thus, we strongly advise you to bring with you enough money to support you for at least the first month in Oxford. Just beware that if you are bringing more than 10000 euros into the UK you will have to declare it upon arrival.

The major banks in England are:

• Natwest
• Barclays Bank
• HSBC
• Lloyds TSB

The main types of bank account in England are:

• Current accounts: these are basically "service accounts". You will not get any interest on the money you deposit here, but you will get a free cash withdrawal card and possibly a cheque book.
• Savings accounts: you will get interest paid on the money you deposit in a savings account. However, you will have to transfer money to a current account to actually get access to it.

The first thing you will need is a current account. As an international student, many banks will offer you just a "basic account" (often called "international student account"). A basic account is essentially a limited form of current account: for instance, many basic accounts do not provide a cheque book. It is useful to know that whether you can get a proper current account or just a basic account is often independent of your nationality: it depends only on the bank's policy. So, you may want to shop around between different banks before opening an account. Moreover, some banks will allow you only to open an account with their international service. This means that your account will be managed by an international office and not by the local branch. The main complication with this system is that you will have to deal by phone with the international office for any problem, whilst with a normal account you can just pop in your local branch and speak to an actual person. The Oxford University international office has produced a very useful guide to bank accounts, which can be found here.

In any case, to open a bank account you will need:

• Your passport or EU national identity card.
• A letter from the college explaining that you are a registered student. Jacqui Collier (staircase 4) will prepare this for you. The letter must be addressed to the specific bank of choice and must contain your full name as stated in your passport.
• Some banks may require a minimal amount of money to be deposited.
• If you have any evidence of funding, it will be useful if you bring it with you when opening a bank account.

Mobile phones

Unfortunately, the telephones installed in Lincoln college rooms are pretty useless for calling outside the university network, so having a mobile phone will improve your social life immensely. Once again, this can be the easiest thing in the world or a quite serious business. You will need a mobile phone using GSM technology on either 900 or 1800MHz frequencies. If you don’t have one, you can either buy it (the cheapest way is to use eBay) or get one in an offer from a phone company. Most companies will offer mobiles associated with either pay-as-you-go or contract deals. The main operators in the UK are:

• O2
• Vodafone
• T-mobile
• Orange
• 3

All of them offer both pay-as-you-go and contract deals.

• In a pay-as-you-go situation, you will buy an initial amount of credit and then use it to pay for your calls. You might be happy to know that in the UK you get charged only for the calls you make, not for the ones you receive (except for international calls). Pay-as-you-go deals are a good way to keep track of your credit, but the tariffs per-minute are not particularly spectacular.
• With a contract, you will pay a monthly charge and receive credit for a certain number of minutes or texts each month. Contracts usually last for 18 months and include the use of a mobile phone. Usually you will need a UK bank account to open a contract.

The mobile phone market in the UK is saturated, so each mobile phone company will fight hard to get new clients: if you shop around you can find really good deals! You will find most mobile phone dealers on Cornmarket street. Here you will also find Carphone Warehouse, which can offer deals for many different companies. Superdrug, on Market Street, is also a 3 mobile store and often has special offers.

Carphone Warehouse also runs Mobileworld, an operator offering good rates for international calls on your mobile. It can be a good idea if you are planning to be in constant touch with your friends and family back home, but we would like to remind you that Skype remains the best option for international calls. Also, 3 mobile recently released a mobile phone running Skype, which seems to be quite popular among MCR members.

Accommodation

Most first year international students live in College, either in Bear Lane or in the EPA centre. You might have received a letter from college suggesting that scientists should apply for accommodation in the EPA. Please note that this is just a suggestion and it is in no way mandatory: it is your own choice to live in either college site (subject to room availability). For more information on College accommodation please click here.

Planning to live out of college from abroad can be a little bit tricky, but it is not impossible. Please check the University Accommodation Office website for further information. The OUSU also publishes a very useful guide on living out, which you can download here. Daily information publishes many adverts for available rooms throughout the year. You will also find many ads on Facebook Marketplace.

Studying in Oxford

Attending a postgraduate course in Oxford is in many ways very similar to doing it in any other country in the world, and yet there are still a number of differences. You will receive course-specific information from your own department. Information from departments is usually clear and exhaustive, so here you will find just a bit of advice to make your life easier.

• Oxford University is organized as a collegiate system, which is pretty unique. The easiest way to understand this system is to think at the University as a federation of colleges. To be an Oxford student you must be a member of a College. As a post-grad, you will also be member of a department and refer to it for most of your academic matters. Your department will assign you a supervisor, who will monitor your academic progress during your time at the University.
• It is very important to understand from the start that you (and not your supervisor) are ultimately responsible for being up to date with all the requirements for your course. Some supervisors might be less keen on helping you out, unless you corner them. Hence, be prepared and try to make the most of every meeting!
• The University provides loads of means of getting help, especially for academic matters. If you are not happy with your supervisor or with how your studies are going, you should contact your college advisor. Also, be vocal! You will soon find that everybody faces the same difficulties in settling into Oxford, and it just feels so much better to know that you are not alone here. For more information on welfare, please see the 'welfare' pages.

Homesickness

So, you managed to settle in, you've made loads of amazing friends from all over the world, you're doing pretty well at "school" and yet sometimes you cannot stand this place anymore, with all the queues, the rain and the tea (oh my God, the tea!!!). Well, I am afraid you are just a bit homesick.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to take a break and go home. Some of us manage to do this pretty regularly, thanks to a fortunate combination of low cost flights and long vacations. If you have to cross an ocean to go home, though, it's a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, by being constantly on the lookout for cheap flights and by booking (really far) in advance, most students manage to go home at least once a year. In the intervals between one trip and the other, get on your bike and make a much shorter trip to the Cowley road: you will find deli shops offering food from all over the world, so at least you will be able to cook yourself something that reminds you of home (and maybe speak a couple of words in your native language with the shopkeeper). You will also find loads of foods from across Europe in the covered market.

Moreover, Oxford has national societies covering the entire globe, from Brazil to Italy, so if you are looking for people from your own country you won't have to look very far.