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Old 2010-07-29, 18:06   Link #4028
Irenicus
Le fou, c'est moi
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Age: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by oompa loompa View Post
I'm gonna be studying abroad there too
Where are you going?

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After having my fair share of flight problems, I can tell you that your plan doesn't sound all that bad, but you need to get some security in there. You should probably get in contact with your home school; I'm sure they've had this problem before. Your study abroad office mind you, not the financial aid one. Worst comes to worst you should ask your school to give you a student loan, although you may lose a pound of flesh in the process. If the money will be there within a week I can't see it being a problem.
Actually, I'm already "guaranteed" enough money for the study abroad trip on paper. It's just that it would only arrive when the grants I've received and the loans I've taken start disbursing (the usual FAFSA-related government loans). My problem is that it won't come in time to deal with both the 305000 yen fee deadline and the flight plan deadline. What I have in hand is enough for one but not the other at the same time.

Although if you mean I should ask the school itself if it can give me a short-term "painkiller" kind of boost, that's very interesting. I'll try and talk to them, but honestly I don't think they can do something extraordinary like that. It is something of an unusual case and the school, being a public university, is practically broke (it cut down its budget severely recently) and bound by bureaucratic rules that a more "personal" liberal arts college can sometimes just cut through in the interest of its students.

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Mhmm.. talking to the travel agent is tricky. It's a gamble either way, but I would talk to your travel agent about it. It's just that otherwise, you could find yourself down a lot of money, and with no ticket to Japan.
Mm, yes. I see your point. I think I'll take the honest approach. Hopefully the agent will prove understanding.

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Visa Officials! No, they don't care that much as far as I know - especially for stuff like study abroad. One of the perks of having people read the documents. I don't think they'll mind and you are allowed to do so - they really aren't that draconian.
That's actually very relieving to hear. If for example I send them a flight itinerary with all the information now, but cancel my reservation soon after, would that cause a problem? And should I send them the new itinerary after I receive the disbursed money to actually pay for the "real" ticket, or is it something better left alone?

I know they want to know I actually won't just go there and stay instead of returning, but I don't know if they'll be verifying the flight information directly during their processing, err, process, since it's likely I'll cancel *that* booking to buy another (the agent says I can't keep the reservation very long).

Come to think of it, how long does the Visa process usually take after an application reach them? I have the CoE and everything of course.
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