VFS phuket - Keep My Passport package

[STD Warehouse]

my wife needs to go to Phuket VFS center to do biometrics for her standard uk visitor visa.

 

On the VFS website they are trying to sell me a package "keep you passport", but surely she will keep it anyway? its an electronic visa isnt it? like they dont put a visa sticker in her passport do they? or do they? I mean, shes going to have to go back to Phuket again to collect her passport is that whats happening here?

 

And if the dont keep her passport would she have to go back to Phuket anyway to to get a visa sticker put into it after a visa is granted? 

Edited May 1 by STD Warehouse

[Upnotover]

They keep it and unless things have changed it is a sticker.  They will send it, for a fee, when the application is complete or you go and fetch it.  

[brewsterbudgen]

UKVI (not VFS) need to see her passport, so yes, they retain it unless you pay extra.  

[NanLaew]

Why doesn't the OP's wife call VFS Phuket and find out what this package entails, rather than getting wild guesses from the forum membership?

Edited May 1 by NanLaew

[treetops]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Why doesn't the OP's wife call VFS Phuket and find out what this package entails, rather than getting wild guesses from the forum membership?

 

It's Mayday and they're on holiday?

[Tony M]

Some people want to keep their passports while their application is considered. Mainly that would be applicants for "settlement" type visas, which can take several weeks to process.  Visit visa are being processed fairly quickly at the moment, so, unless you need it to use imminently, then it's best to leave it with VFS.

 

The passport does not go anywhere near the UKVI, and the UKVI do not need to see the passport.

 

The visa is not yet an e-visa, but that will happen sometime in the near future. For instance the Biometric Residence Card issued in the UK will soon be an e-card and not a credit card/ATM type of card.

 

Visa is stuck into the passport by VFS at the application centre, if issued by the UKVI decision-maker. It is then ready for collection or sending by EMS.

 

The applicant does not have to go back to the application centre to collect the passport, as VFS will "courier" it to the applicant's chosen address (for a fee, of course).

[sandyf]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:32 AM, STD Warehouse said:

my wife needs to go to Phuket VFS center to do biometrics for her standard uk visitor visa.

 

On the VFS website they are trying to sell me a package "keep you passport", but surely she will keep it anyway? its an electronic visa isnt it? like they dont put a visa sticker in her passport do they? or do they? I mean, shes going to have to go back to Phuket again to collect her passport is that whats happening here?

 

And if the dont keep her passport would she have to go back to Phuket anyway to to get a visa sticker put into it after a visa is granted? 

Not electronic, and what they are suggesting is not worth the hassle of getting the passport back to the VAC for the visa. Visa processing is just a sideline to VFS, their core business is selling services at rip off prices to uninformed applicants.

Done one recently in Bangkok and didn't take very long, appointment was on 12th March and passport came back by EMS on 28th March. Delivery is optional and think it was 280 baht, for us a good bit cheaper and easier than going back to collect it from Bangkok.

https://visa.vfsglobal.com/lka/en/gbr/keep-my-passport-while-applying