Scheduling A Appointment For Uk Family Visa

[samsong101]

Hi all,

I went on the vfs global website to schedule a appointment for my thai wife to apply for a family visa to the uk.I am planning on going over in early Feb and so want a appointment then but on the calender for February there are no dates available.Could it be that February is busy time of year or could it be that its too soon to make an appointment as January has 4 days available?Also can i just turn up at the office and queue up or do you have to make an appointment?Any help would be appreciated.Thanks in advance

[rawhod]

I presume when you say "you are planning to go over in early February" you mean "going over to Thailand in early February".

As you suggest, it is too early to schedule an appointment for Feb. After you have completed your on line application the appointment booking only shows the current month for booking appointments. I'm not sure when in January it will allow February bookings, just keep checking.

You cannot just turn up and wait, you must have an appointment.

[toddmeister]

When we submitted my wife's settlement application back in September, the VFS system would only allow you to book an appointment up to a week in advance. I would thinks its still the same now so you'll have to wait until nearer the time.

No, you can't just turn up at the office. When you book an appointment its asks for a passport number and that is checked off as people are entering the VFS offices

Edited December 29, 2011 by toddmeister

[Ch23]

has something changed then. When the missus went to hand in her visit visa docs back in Feb of last year the lady at the desk told her that she didnt necessarily need an appointment and could just turn up. however, she would/could be in for a long wait.

imo the booking system is a right pain because the last thing you want after you have jumped through all the hoops of getting all your stuff prepared is to wait a week before you can had it in.

[7by7]

Yes, things have changed.

Forms must now be completed online and an appointment made to hand in a signed print out of the form plus any other documents required and to have biometrics taken.

Having made the appointment you then have the time until same to gather your supporting documents; but I wouldn't recommend leaving it that late to do so!

[toddmeister]

has something changed then. When the missus went to hand in her visit visa docs back in Feb of last year the lady at the desk told her that she didnt necessarily need an appointment and could just turn up. however, she would/could be in for a long wait.

imo the booking system is a right pain because the last thing you want after you have jumped through all the hoops of getting all your stuff prepared is to wait a week before you can had it in.

I think it actually works a lot better now. When we went it seemed a lot more organised, no rugby scrum or big lines outside the VFS office and my Mrs was allowed straight in after checking her passport number against the list at the entrance. The only thing I wasn't happy with was the fact that it wouldn't allow us to book a lot more in advance.

[rawhod]

has something changed then. When the missus went to hand in her visit visa docs back in Feb of last year the lady at the desk told her that she didnt necessarily need an appointment and could just turn up. however, she would/could be in for a long wait.

imo the booking system is a right pain because the last thing you want after you have jumped through all the hoops of getting all your stuff prepared is to wait a week before you can had it in.

When we submitted in May last year we could have had an appointment the following day...

...but we had to get to BKK from CNX.

Toddmeister is correct, there is no crowd, no waiting and they even allowed my wife out to replace the cashier cheque we had taken from Chiang Mai with one from the bank downstairs.

[toddmeister]

imo the booking system is a right pain because the last thing you want after you have jumped through all the hoops of getting all your stuff prepared is to wait a week before you can had it in.

You don't have to wait a week.......the system allows you to book appointments up to a week in advance. So for example, as long as appointments are available you could book the following day, but if you wanted an appointment 2 weeks ahead you would have to wait a week before you could book that date.

Like rawhod the staff were good with us. They let me go inside when my Mrs needed to reprint the form and she needed my password

[bkk_mike]

The problem now is the requirement to fill in the form on line...

i.e. If there's a value where you don't know what to fill in, but it's a field that is rather irrelevant (the specific example I have had issues with is father's date of birth - for my 71yo mother-in-law's visit applications), in the past you could leave the field blank. But nowadays, you have to populate every field...

For me, it's just a pain trying to find out my wife's (deceased) grandparents birthdays as they pre-date the issuance of proper birth certificates here, but does it mean orphans can't apply for a visa?

Note: Last time I was there - about 8 months ago, there were definitely people filling in paper forms by hand and still being allowed to apply, and although having an appointment meant you didn't spend all day waiting, apparently you could still just turn up without an appointment. You just might be there all day...

Edited January 1, 2012 by bkk_mike

[rawhod]

The problem now is the requirement to fill in the form on line...

i.e. If there's a value where you don't know what to fill in, but it's a field that is rather irrelevant (the specific example I have had issues with is father's date of birth - for my 71yo mother-in-law's visit applications), in the past you could leave the field blank. But nowadays, you have to populate every field...

For me, it's just a pain trying to find out my wife's (deceased) grandparents birthdays as they pre-date the issuance of proper birth certificates here, but does it mean orphans can't apply for a visa?

Note: Last time I was there - about 8 months ago, there were definitely people filling in paper forms by hand and still being allowed to apply, and although having an appointment meant you didn't spend all day waiting, apparently you could still just turn up without an appointment. You just might be there all day...

Somewhere in the guidance it tells you what to do if a date of birth is not known. I can't immediately find it, but the on-line application accepts 1 JAN 1900 for a DOB which is unknown. The information is either in the guidance notes or in a 'popup' within the on-line application form.

If you turn up without an appointment you certainly will be there all day, and still not submit your application. As I and others have said..you have to book an appointment on-line. The on-line booking system works perfectly well and is certainly preferable to turning up and waiting all day.

[7by7]

Note: Last time I was there - about 8 months ago, there were definitely people filling in paper forms by hand and still being allowed to apply.....

If memory serves, the change to online forms only was about 6 months ago.

[toddmeister]

Note: Last time I was there - about 8 months ago, there were definitely people filling in paper forms by hand and still being allowed to apply.....

If memory serves, the change to online forms only was about 6 months ago.

The online applications became mandatory for all visas from 2nd May 2011

[nahkit]

"does it mean orphans can't apply for a visa"

An orphan must of had parents at some time in their life, think about it.

My wife had no idea what her fathers birthdate was and neither did her mother so we put a best guess down.

If his own family didn't know and neither did the amphur, then how are the embassy going to verify it either?

[Johnniey]

There not going to check my wife's father's birthdate,are they?

I can;t get onto the page for the online application today.

Does it not work on a Sunday?

[7by7]

As rawhod has already said:

Somewhere in the guidance it tells you what to do if a date of birth is not known. I can't immediately find it, but the on-line application accepts 1 JAN 1900 for a DOB which is unknown. The information is either in the guidance notes or in a 'popup' within the on-line application form.

There appears to be problems with the UKBA website today; maintenance maybe?

All I can suggest is that you try again later.