After months of planning and speculation, I will finally embark upon the very first of my international escapades in June 2014; I’m scheduled to fly out from Mumbai, India on the 3rd of June, to begin what I’m sure will be my greatest experience as a Nomad till date. I will be traveling through the United Kingdom including London, Birmingham, Lake District and Scotland, before flying out to a destination I’ve been dreaming of, since the moment I was introduced to the works of William Butler Yeats – the Emerald Isle or the Republic of Ireland.
Probably the greatest bane for an Indian traveler, is holding an Indian Passport. Despite the global tourist frenzy about India, the country is known for an annoyingly long and cumbersome immigration process. This, along with having an infamous reputation for shipping large volumes of long-term settlers to developed countries in the past, adds to the woes of the first-time Indian traveler. The tourist UK visa is considered amongst the most complex and difficult visas to receive, especially for a single, recently-employed Asian traveler like me; add to that, the fact that their websites provide vague and restricted information around eligibility/approval criteria and you have yourself staring a nightmare in the face. I hope this post will act as a one-stop shop for all first time travelers to the UK and make the process a little easier for everybody.
Determining Your Visa Category
Determining the type of visa you need:
Visas for the United Kingdom are processed by a sub-department of the Home Office – UK Visas and Immigration. In India, the entire application process is handled by VFS Global – a company that specializes in global outsourcing and technology for diplomatic missions and governments worldwide. The Home Office generally grants several types of visas, depending upon the nature of your visit. This is an important step, because it determines what kind of supporting documents you need to submit. Here are some common categories:
- Tier 1: Investor, Entrepreneur, Exceptional Talent, etc.
- Tier 2: Intra-company transfer, etc.
- Tier 5: Government Sponsored, sportsperson, youth mobility schemes, creative persons, etc.
- UK Study : student, student visitor, doctoral scheme extension, etc.
- UK Family: spouse, family, dependent family members, etc.
- UK General Visitor: general tourist, visiting a relative residing in the UK, academic visitor, paid engagement, etc.
- Others: Indefinite Leave to Remain, Right of Abode, UK Settlement, etc.
For the purpose of this post, we shall concentrate on category number 6 – UK General Visitor (short stay Tourist UK Visa is a subset of this category). You can read more about other categories here.
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The Application Process:
Step 1 – Online Application Form
The first step is to fill an online application form using the UK government website for visas and immigration in India here. You will be asked to create an account and fill a comprehensive online form. You can fill the form in installments, but remember to save often, because the website is rather unstable and also logs you out for inactivity after a certain duration.
Step 2 – Book an Appointment & Make Payment
Once you’ve completed all sections of the application form, all buttons on the panel on the left will turn green and you can submit your form – be sure to re-check though, since you cannot make edits post submission; you WILL be forced to repeat the whole process again.
Once you’ve submitted the form, you can make an appointment with a VFS centre of your choice to submit your supporting documents and biometric evidence (a fancier word for recording your finger-prints, retina scans and ugly-looking photographs, that make you wonder if you’re a criminal-in-disguise). Once you book an appointment slot, you will in most cases be required to make an online payment for your processing fee – please ensure you are in a position to make the payment within 3 hours of booking an appointment, failing which your appointment will be automatically cancelled.
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Step 3 – Collecting Your Supporting Documents
This, by a monumental mile, is the most important (and cumbersome) step in your process. The Home Office doesn’t provide clear directives around supporting documents anymore. It gives you very vague instructions on what it is that you need to prove to support your eligibility and leaves it to you to decide what documents you must submit. To help everybody out, here’s a usable checklist – please use this purely as a reference point. I’ve no affiliation with the UK Home Office and no endorsement or validation from them – I’m just sharing what worked for me, and in most circumstances, must work for you.
i. Personal Information:
*for employement – letter from employer detailing salary, length of employment, confirming leave of absence and whether it is paid or unpaid
*for studies – letter from education provider confirming enrolment & leave of absence
ii. Financial & Employment Information:
iii. Travel & Accommodation Information:
**if staying with a friend/relative – an invitation letter from them as well as a copy of their visa/letter from Home Office confirming their immigration status is very helpful
iv. Forms & Other Documents:
A lot of this sounds extremely straight-forward & obvious when put forth in this manner, but it’s amazing how many people end up ruining their chances by missing the obvious – always a brownie point for the organized lot here! The chief concern of the immigration office is to ensure you have no reasonable probability of staying back in the UK for good OR you aren’t in a position where you become a burden on the state and will seek recourse to public funds; hence as far as you can prove beyond reasonable doubt, that you’ve no intention to settle in the UK long term and have access to finances that will sustain you during the trip, you should be good enough. For more detailed information check here.
You can download this entire checklist in a pdf format here – Complete Checklist
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Step 4 – Submitting Your Documents & Biometrics
On the day of your appointment, reach the VFS office a little ahead of your schedule and come in with a good meal in your stomach. The actual process takes only 15-20 minutes combined, but the waiting period could stretch on till up to 5-6 hours, depending upon the time of the year. You can’t use a cell-phone in there or a laptop or any other kind of electronic device – so carry a book or something or be prepared to die off boredom! Sign-up for the courier service if you don’t want to come to the center and collect your documents, but remember to sign-up for the SMS service, so you will remain updated of your application status.
Step 5 – Wait, pray and then wait some more
Once you’ve done everything in your human capacity to ensure your application has a reasonable shout for approval, sit back and wait. The website claims first-time applications are usually processed within a time-frame of 8-10 working days, but that timeline fluctuates harder than SENSEX. All you can do once you’ve submitted your moolah, is wait back, relax and pray a lot – if things have gone well so far, chances are you will soon be on your way to an exciting trip to the land that has dramatically influenced your past, present and future!
Free Tip – If like me, you’d like to take advantage of the relationships between the United Kingdom and the neighboring state of Ireland, I’d recommend you make full use of the Short Stay Visa Waiver Program offered by Irish Immigration and give the Emerald Isle a happy little visit too. (well, now you see how them Irish are always such friendly, hospitable folk, don’t you?). The waiver program, allows travelers of several nationalities (including Indian), to visit the Republic of Ireland on a UK General Category C visa – or a short stay Tourist UK Visa; you’re required to clear immigration in the UK though, so people planning on using UK just as a transit point will still require an Irish visa.