Accommodation and pre-departure

The visa is stamped and the flight is booked. This is the part students underestimate, and the part parents worry about most.

Accommodation

Booked before you fly, never on arrival. University halls where you can get them; verified private student housing where you cannot. Dublin, and increasingly Sydney and Toronto, have genuine shortages, in those cities housing needs to be arranged the moment your place is confirmed.

We check the contract length against your course dates, so you are not paying for a twelve-month tenancy on a nine-month course.

Money

Forex through a regulated provider at a rate we will show you, a card that works on landing, and advice on opening a local bank account in your first fortnight. We also set expectations on what things actually cost week to week, which is usually where the first month’s budget goes wrong.

Insurance and health

Travel and health cover appropriate to the country, some, like the UK’s immigration health surcharge, are paid as part of the visa itself, while others must be bought separately before you fly.

The briefing

Before you leave, we sit down with you and your parents and go through:

• Airport arrival, immigration questions and what to carry in your hand luggage
• Part-time work rules, the legal hours, and the consequences of exceeding them
• Registering with the university and any local reporting requirement
• Who to call in the first week, in that country and in Jaipur

After you land

Your counsellor stays reachable, and your parents keep a Jaipur number they can call in their own language and time zone. Settling in is part of the service, not the end of it.