UK visa application

[rayfork]

Has anyone else been driven crazy by the VFS-Global application system to apply for a UK visa?  Just been through 'the mangle' trying to follow their system in applying for visas for my partner and her 2 kids - or is it just me unable to understand and follow their instructions?  Managed to get one through, but given up with 'Oops, seems like something is wrong - try later'.  My guess, not designed by Brits.

[darren1971]

the whole immigration system is a shambles, good luck

[FracturedRabbit]

I am currently sat in VFS, fuming, while my applied for her tourist visa.
The UK government application includes a checklist of items to be included in the application. The last time we applied, two years ago, we prepared all the required documents, referenced to this checklist, and the complete pack was submitted without change.
Today we arrived with the same set of referenced documents, to be presented with an entirely different VFS checklist, and my wife spent 45 minutes with a clerk while all our carefully prepared documents were re-ordered to fit this new, as far as I am aware, unpublished checklist. A complete mess.


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[rasg]

As far as I am aware nothing much has changed with a visit visa. What were the differences?

[darren1971]

2 hours ago, FracturedRabbit said:

I am currently sat in VFS, fuming, while my applied for her tourist visa.
The UK government application includes a checklist of items to be included in the application. The last time we applied, two years ago, we prepared all the required documents, referenced to this checklist, and the complete pack was submitted without change.
Today we arrived with the same set of referenced documents, to be presented with an entirely different VFS checklist, and my wife spent 45 minutes with a clerk while all our carefully prepared documents were re-ordered to fit this new, as far as I am aware, unpublished checklist. A complete mess.


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My wife was held there for 4 hours with no apologies or explanation last year, she missed her bus back to Chonburi and had to find a place to stay in Bangkok for the night. Too concerned with profit and couldn't care less about user experience.

[FracturedRabbit]

The difference is that the documents are now scanned (for transmission to India), and VFS have decided to group them for scanning in a manner that bears no relationship to the checklist categories included in the UK government visa application online form. Omnishambles!


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[Duffman88]

Good luck

 

My first attempt was refused based on them claiming things were missing which were actually there. I can't prove it but my best guess is that they failed to scan the reverse of my bank statements or another double sided document.

 

I'd happily pay 5 or 10 times the price for a walk in centre where they can interview you and you just have to show the evidence face-to-face in the British Embassy. Everything in order = visa given

[darren1971]

26 minutes ago, Duffman88 said:

Good luck

 

My first attempt was refused based on them claiming things were missing which were actually there. I can't prove it but my best guess is that they failed to scan the reverse of my bank statements or another double sided document.

 

I'd happily pay 5 or 10 times the price for a walk in centre where they can interview you and you just have to show the evidence face-to-face in the British Embassy. Everything in order = visa given

That's what they love, zero accountability and you have to pay for their mistakes.

[rasg]

5 hours ago, FracturedRabbit said:

The difference is that the documents are now scanned (for transmission to India), and VFS have decided to group them for scanning in a manner that bears no relationship to the checklist categories included in the UK government visa application online form. Omnishambles!

So the criteria haven’t changed for the visa itself then?

I'd be interested in seeing the new checklist.

[davejonesbkk]

18 hours ago, FracturedRabbit said:

I am currently sat in VFS, fuming, while my applied for her tourist visa.
The UK government application includes a checklist of items to be included in the application. The last time we applied, two years ago, we prepared all the required documents, referenced to this checklist, and the complete pack was submitted without change.
Today we arrived with the same set of referenced documents, to be presented with an entirely different VFS checklist, and my wife spent 45 minutes with a clerk while all our carefully prepared documents were re-ordered to fit this new, as far as I am aware, unpublished checklist. A complete mess.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

What is different now? I will be applying for one soon

[FracturedRabbit]

10 hours ago, rasg said:

So the criteria haven’t changed for the visa itself then?

I'd be interested in seeing the new checklist.

The criteria is unchanged, the sequence in which you organise your supporting documents has changed (and is not available online). 
Attached are the forms my wife managed to extract from the process. She asked for the full set but the clerk said there was no point because they keep changing them.... Each page is put in front of your relevant documents for the scanning process. Our re-ordering process was not helped by a belligerent clerk who didn't seem to know what she was doing; e.g. she was insistent that the sponsor and invitee are the same person (I am the sponsor, my son in the UK is the invitee).

 

[gmac]

The VFS checklists were online last year but there was no clear reference to them in UK Government site, though they did mention barcode separators.  I took that to mean the barcoded sheets within the Government site on their checklist so we arrived at VFS and spent 4-5 hours in total confusion as it was the first year of scanning to India and no-one had a clue what was going on.  

 

Last week after a nightmare of breakdowns of the Government system and VFS site we managed to get everything submitted and attended the wife VFS appointment.  Having downloaded the VFS separators (in preparation following the previous debacle) from last year we seemed good to go but, as mentioned above, this year although they were the same separators they were required in a different order.  No real problems there as we had already arranged the documents with the appropriate separator and it just required a reordering of the batches.

 

The problems arose after that as my wife was left waiting over an hour as there appeared to be a breakdown in the numbering system for the biometrics and actual scanning of the documents.  No-one appeared to know what was going on once again and a 4pm appointment for which we were allowed in at 3.30 took until 5.30 to be completed.  

 

It was so much easier and more efficient 2 years ago when you took in the the documents you wanted to submit, handed them over and they sent them on your behalf.  My own checklist which I have submitted with my sponsors letters for the past 5 successful applications lists everything and is far simpler to follow than the official version. I even list the documents in the same order as the UK site which of course is garbage as the VFS submission order is then totally different!

 

Fingers crossed now for a good result this year. 

 

[FracturedRabbit]

The VFS checklists were online last year but there was no clear reference to them in UK Government site, though they did mention barcode separators.  I took that to mean the barcoded sheets within the Government site on their checklist so we arrived at VFS and spent 4-5 hours in total confusion as it was the first year of scanning to India and no-one had a clue what was going on.  
 
Last week after a nightmare of breakdowns of the Government system and VFS site we managed to get everything submitted and attended the wife VFS appointment.  Having downloaded the VFS separators (in preparation following the previous debacle) from last year we seemed good to go but, as mentioned above, this year although they were the same separators they were required in a different order.  No real problems there as we had already arranged the documents with the appropriate separator and it just required a reordering of the batches.
 
The problems arose after that as my wife was left waiting over an hour as there appeared to be a breakdown in the numbering system for the biometrics and actual scanning of the documents.  No-one appeared to know what was going on once again and a 4pm appointment for which we were allowed in at 3.30 took until 5.30 to be completed.  
 
It was so much easier and more efficient 2 years ago when you took in the the documents you wanted to submit, handed them over and they sent them on your behalf.  My own checklist which I have submitted with my sponsors letters for the past 5 successful applications lists everything and is far simpler to follow than the official version. I even list the documents in the same order as the UK site which of course is garbage as the VFS submission order is then totally different!
 
Fingers crossed now for a good result this year. 
 

Such fun is it not?! It’s almost as if they just want your money. Do you happen to have a link to the VFS barcode sheets?


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[theoldgit]

Now that applicants can upload their supporting documents from the comfort of their own homes, I suppose the “services” and lack of consistency of VFS operatives, I suspect they’re largely redundant now and will just be left with biometric captures.


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[darren1971]

27 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

Now that applicants can upload their supporting documents from the comfort of their own homes, I suppose the “services” and lack of consistency of VFS operatives, I suspect they’re largely redundant now and will just be left with biometric captures.


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Have to admire your optimism 

[rasg]

3 hours ago, theoldgit said:

Now that applicants can upload their supporting documents from the comfort of their own homes, I suppose the “services” and lack of consistency of VFS operatives, I suspect they’re largely redundant now and will just be left with biometric captures.

If they are doing something similar to the way applications are done in the UK, they may be checking that all of the scans that the applicant has uploaded can be opened etc. The only scan that was done for my wife was her passport using a special passport scanner and she scanned every page that had been used. The people in front of my wife in the queue had missed a couple of documents and the woman took the originals from them and scanned them. The VFS ops will still be scanning if the applicant hasn't, of course.

[gmac]

Such fun is it not?! It’s almost as if they just want your money. Do you happen to have a link to the VFS barcode sheets?


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https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/ph/en/-/media/project/vfs_uk/shared/pdf/barcode-separators.pdf

These are from the Philippines vfs site but look the same as the ones they are using at VFS Bangkok.

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[FracturedRabbit]

41 minutes ago, gmac said:

https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/ph/en/-/media/project/vfs_uk/shared/pdf/barcode-separators.pdf

These are from the Philippines vfs site but look the same as the ones they are using at VFS Bangkok.

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Many thanks

[rasg]

But are the barcodes the same?