How to Apply for a UK Visa

      My family recently went on the Baltic Heritage Cruise of Princess Cruises and, at the end of the cruise, toured the UK for five (5) days.  For the entire leg, we were required to obtain multiple-entry UK and Schengen visas.

 You may ask whether it would be better to apply first for a UK visa then a Schengen visa or vice versa. There is no fixed rule on this. The only reason why I chose to apply for a Schengen visa first is that our cruise would mostly be cruising on Schengen countries. Moreover, we were issued a Schengen visa two years prior, so I figured that this would work well to our advantage.

Below are the steps in applying for a multiple-entry UK visa. I shall discuss in a separate post the steps in getting a multiple-entry Schengen visa.

1.      Book flight and accommodation. I used the comparison sites Skyscanner (https://www.skyscanner.com.ph/) and Kayak (https://www.kayak.com/). Should you wish to reserve your flight first and opt to pay later after approval of your visa, I read somewhere that there are websites offering to hold your booking for a fee. Alternatively, you may also ask a travel agency to reserve a booking for you for visa application purposes for a fee.
         
      For our accommodation, I used the comparison site Trivago (https://www.trivago.com.ph/). You may want to book an accommodation that would allow you to cancel for free prior to your arrival at the hotel. This is in case you would, later on, find better accommodation or, for a worse reason, if your visa application gets denied.  Do be careful, however, when making multiple bookings and ensure that you cancel all accommodations that you wish to forego before the deadline/penalty period kicks in.

2.      Prepare supporting documents. Even before I started our UK and Schengen visa applications, I already requested two (2) originals of the following documents from the pertinent offices/banks/agencies.

a.   Birth and marriage (for my parents) certificates issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (“PSA”). You can request these at any Customer Service of SM Department Stores where the fee is cheaper vis-a-vis when you request at the PSA website. Turnaround time is 7-10 working days;

b.      Bank statements for 3 months and bank certificate; and

c.       Certificate of employment and leave of absence.

Please note that proof of travel insurance is not required for a UK visa but it is required for a Schengen visa. Also, even if you’ll just apply for a UK visa, I highly recommend that you still get travel insurance as you never really know what can happen during your trip. Trust me on this, I’ve had first-hand experience when my father got sick in one of our travels and we didn’t pay a cent during his hospital visit and despite the lab tests he underwent. We were in Paris at that time and I can only imagine the amount we would have paid sans insurance.

3.      Commence online application.  While waiting for the release of your documents, proceed with the online visa application. Visit the website - https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa/apply, where you will be directed to make an online application account using your email and chosen password.

4.      Needed information for the online application. Take note that, unlike with the Schengen visa where there are dedicated local numbers you can call should you have questions, one is expected to find answers to queries by going through the UK visa website.  (I once asked those at the Visa Facilitation Services (“VFS”) Manila regarding documentary requirements for a UK visa but they just pointed me to the guard who, in turn, gave me a scrap of paper where the website for the UK visa application is printed.)

In the online application, you will be asked the following information:

a.       Travel details. Dates of arrival and departure at the UK; details of the main purpose of       visit;

b.     Personal information. Address, telephone number and number of years that you have lived in the indicated address;

c.      Passport details;

d.      Dependent details, if any;

e.      Parent details. Name, date of birth and nationality;

f.  Employment details. Status, start date, job title and description, net monthly income, employer’s name, address and telephone number;

g.      Income and expenditure.  Other income/savings, money in savings, amount to be spent in the UK, amount spent monthly and who will be paying for UK visit.

For the estimated amount to be spent in the UK, you have to ensure that the amount you will indicate is considerably smaller than your indicated savings. For our 5-day stay in the UK, I estimated our individual expenses to be at around PhP84,000.00. This amount already accounts for our accommodation, plane fare, meals, hop on-hop off tickets and transpo costs in London.

h.      Details of family member in the UK, if any;

i.    Accommodation details. Name/s and address/es of accommodation/s in the UK, dates of arrival and departure in the accommodation/s;

j.     UK travel history. Whether or not you have been refused and/or issued a UK visa for the past 10 years and whether you have been in the UK within the same timeframe;

k.      Travel history in other countries. Other countries you have been to for the past 10 years and the details of said visit/s (date, reason and length of visit). Details must be consistent with the immigration stamp/s in the passport/s you will submit;

l.     Other history. Whether you have (i) been involved in/member of/supported any terrorist organization/activities and (ii) worked for the Armed Forces, the government, media, security organizations, and judiciary; and

m.    Convictions and other penalties. Whether you have been criminally convicted, arrested or have been subjected to any judgement or penalty.

5.      Visa fee. Once you submit your online application, you will be required to pay the visa fee as follows:

a.       Standard short-term visa – USD 129 (roughly PhP 7000.00) for stay of up to 6 months,      single or multiple; or

b.      Long-term visa – more expensive starting at USD 478,  valid for to 2, 5 or 10 years.

6.      Upload documents. After paying, you will have the option of uploading your supporting documents to their website. While you may choose to have VFS Manila upload your documents for a fee during your personal appearance, I suggest that you already upload them. This is to save you time, as you need not submit the hard copy of your supporting documents during your personal appearance, and money. The following are the documents that you may upload:

a.       Previous passports showing travel history. I, however, heard from someone I know who   applied sometime in July 2019 that he no longer uploaded his previous passports;

b.   Proof of visit. Tour/flight tickets, letter of invitation or evidence of sponsor’s UK   immigration status;

c.   Current employment. Certificate of employment, pay slips, tax returns, business registration documents or business bank documents;

d.      Income/Savings. Bank statements and bank certificates;

e.       Home address. Land registration documents;

f.    Evidence of assets. Documents showing that you own property or land such as title over land or condominium unit;

g.     Additional information. Evidence of family members remaining in the country whilst you  travel; and

h.      Other documents that you believe will support your application.

Note that I did not submit items e (as the title of my home address is in the name of my parents) and g but I was still issued a visa. For item h, I attached our (i) Princess Cruises booking certificate showing that we will be embarking and disembarking at Southampton and, in the case of my parents, their (ii) marriage certificate.

You need not upload your ID pictures as you will be photographed at the VFS Center during your personal appearance.

7.      Where to go and what to do during schedule. You may already schedule personal appearance online even before completing the upload of your documents. VFS Manila is located at Ecoplaza Building, Mezzanine Floor, Don Chino Roces Ave, Extension, Makati. On the day of your appearance, you need to bring the following:

a.       Appointment letter;

b.      Current and previous passports;

c.       Checklist of supporting documents; and

d.      Supporting documents, if not yet uploaded.

Your photograph and biometrics shall likewise be taken during your personal appearance.

8.      Waiting time and release. Turnaround time is fifteen (15) working days but we got ours a little bit earlier. You may choose to have your visa mailed or personally pick it up at VFS. You will receive a text message saying that there is already a decision on your application (without mentioning what the decision is) and that you may proceed to VFS. 

9.      Products you may buy at the VFS Center. The VFS Center sells products that you may use for your travel such as travel insurance, international driver’s license, Visitor Oyster Card (they don’t have the regular one as you can readily buy this at any of London’s train stations) and the Vodafone sim card.

I bought the sim card and it proved to be very useful. For PhP 975.00, it comes with 20GB 4G data, unlimited UK texts, 250 minutes of UK calls and 5GBP free international calls (which, I was told, translates to 50 mins. of calls to the Philippines). Aside from the UK, I was also able to use its data roaming (for free) during our cruise (except in Russia).

There you have it!Hope I was somehow of help in your application process. Here’s me hoping that you enjoy your UK trip and wishing you a safe travel!

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