Offer & acceptance

An offer is a contract, so read all of it before celebrating. The two things that matter most are whether it is conditional and what the deadlines are. A conditional offer lists what you still have to produce — a final transcript, a specific IELTS band, an attested document — and it becomes worthless if those conditions are not met by the date stated.

Deposits and acceptance deadlines are where offers are lost. Many universities require a tuition deposit or a first-instalment payment within a short window, and the place goes to someone else if it is missed. Check whether the deposit is refundable if the visa is refused, because that single clause can decide which offer you accept when you are holding more than one.

Once you accept, request the official acceptance or enrolment letter in the exact form your embassy expects. This document is the centre of the visa file and everything else is arranged around it, so ask early and confirm the details on it — your name spelled as in your passport, the programme, the start date and the tuition position — match your other documents exactly.