Ad Hoc Documents

Ad Hoc Documents

Start

As well as documents we deal with regularly, we get ad hoc document requests that are less common but equally important. We always recommend referring to the Documents Handbook when a student requests a document you don't know well. Let's learn about some ad hoc document requests and how we can help. Look around the office to find where they might be hiding.

Army Letters

There are over 60 countries that have some form of mandatory military service. Some countries allow registered students to delay or be exempt from service if they provide proof of their student status to the government. Students will request an army letter to provide to their home country to apply for the exemption or deferral of service.

(Click on the globe!)

Open the filing cabinet to learn more about army letters.

Most countries will accept a Certificate of Registration as an army letter.

It contains the two important details. Can you spot them on the document?

• Confirmation the individual is studying with us

• The dates they are registered for

So what happens if the Certificate of Registration is rejected?

What do you think we can do if a government won't accept the Certificate of Registration as an army letter?

• We can refer the student to their department.

• We can manually create a modified Certificate of Registration through CRM.

• We can insist on the student using their Certificate of Registration.

Exactly! We would create a Cert of Reg through CRM with specific wording which can then be printed or shared electronically with the student depending on what reason the Certificate of Registration was rejected.

Whilst this won't be the case for every student, we are aware that the Russian government are requiring students to provide a document with an embossed stamp and wet signature.

Army letters aren't common but it's important to know what to do when we get a request for one. Look around the office to learn about the next Ad Hoc Document.

Lånekassen Forms

Which of these two forms do you think is a Lånekassen form?

Exactly! We have to fill this in, sign and stamp it before returning it to the student.

Lånekassen forms are mostly completed with information we get from ESIS or UNIT4.

Click on the different sections to see how the form has been completed.

Next

Question 1

If the study period for an October starter is January 2020 to December 2020, how many academic years does this cover?

b) 2 years

a) 1 year

d) 4 years

c) 3 years

This would cover the Spring and Summer term of one academic year and the autumn term of a second academic year.

Next

Question 2

If we aren't sure of the fees the student has paid, which team should we ask?

a) The Funding Team

b) The Progress Team

c) The Income Team

Whilst the form relates to a Norwegian loan company, we should speak to Income for confirmation of fees paid.

Next

Question 3

Which should we use as the University stamp?

It's worth saving the stamp to your laptop but you can always find it on Box too.

Next

Now you're ready to tackle a Lånekassen form. What other documents might you have to deal with? Keep looking around the office!

Completion Letters

Towards the end of the academic year, students may contact us for a document to give to their employer which will show they are no longer in term time and can therefore work full-time as stated in their student visa.

This is what we refer to as a completion letter and students should use their Certificate of Registration.

The advice has changed in past years so we should ask a couple of questions before directing students to Gradintelligence.

Open the folder to have a look at a flowchart you can follow.

Completion letters are less of an issue now that we can direct students to use their Certificate of Registration. It's good to know the process in case a student does push back. Look around the office for your next document.

Proof of Enrolment

Students sometimes require 'proof of enrolment' or confirmation that they are studying with us. The Certificate of Registration can be used for this purpose. Sometimes this is not sufficient and students will send us a form to be completed. Click on the files to learn more.

How do we know if we can complete enrolment forms?There are two things we should look for:

• Is the form in English?

We can't complete forms that are in a different language.

Yes

No

Look at the example form - do you think we can complete this?

Whilst there are some parts of the form in French, each sentence has an English translation so we are able to complete forms that look like this.

How do we know if we can complete enrolment forms?There are two things we should look for:

• Can we find the info on ESIS?

We can't confirm results/funding so we should try to only supply information you can find on the ESIS enquiry screen.

A good rule to follow is if you can't find the information on ESIS and it is not a recognised document, contact a Senior or Supervisor before proceeding with the form.

Imagine we have received a form asking the following questions. Using only the ESIS enquiry screen, which of these questions can we answer?

Click on all the questions you think we can answer .

What is the student's course title?

What year is the student currently studying for?

Does the student have any academic offences on their record?

What is the student's date of birth?

Does the student have a part-time job?

Is the student studying full or part-time?

Is the student paying home or overseas fees?

Proof of enrolment letters - done! One last ad-hoc document to learn about. Where else in the office could it be?

"Hi, I want my mum to visit from Mumbai and I need a letter from the university for her visa application."

A visitor visa letter or letter of invitation is a document to support a visitor visa application. Answer the phone to learn more.

"You need to write the letter yourself as they are coming to visit you. I'll give you some more information that can help."

How should we respond to this student? I've put them on hold, so press the hold button so we can advise them.

Now let's direct the student to how they can find more information.

Visitor Visa Letter

If a letter of invitation is required as part of a visitor visa application, the student should write this themselves. We can direct students to our webpages that have guidance for writing these letters. Check out the webpages for more information.

The only exception in which the university would provide a 'visitor letter' is if the student themselves requires a visitor visa to attend graduation. In this instance, we would direct them to contact the Graduation Team directly.

The webpages have generic guidance for what should be included in a visitor letter. If students need more help, they should contact the UKCISA or look at the government webpages.

You've learned all about ad-hoc documents! Some other documents might come up but these are the ones it is best to know about. We always recommend looking at the Documents handbook when you get an ad-hoc document request to ensure you are following the most up-to-date guidance. Click the link to look at the Documents handbook and then return to the Moodle course.

Which of these countries have some form of mandatory military service?

Select the countries on the map.

Australia Bolivia Canada Chad Greenland India Iran Italy Mexico Russia

Submit

The only information we complete on a form should match what can be found on the Certificate of Registration, most of which is taken from the ESIS enquiry screen.

Using this rule and ensuring we are filling out English forms only ensures we don't provide any excess information.

One exception to this rule is that if we receive a Canadian tax form to be completed, this should be sent to usloans@essex.ac.uk to be completed.