Okay ...

Went to Manchester (Longsight) today to apply for the first time. There is so much worry and confusion around this whole process, I think that what I learnt today can only help to clarify the whole mess.

Arrived at 9.10am to apply for me, my wife and 13 year old daughter. Flights are on NYE. Having filled in the forms online, turned up on spec having been unable to book an appt. The community centre is nothing to be concerned about. You walk straight into a large waiting room/lobby, far more pleasant than you might imagine. It's not grim so don't panic. Several couples were already there, all of them Goa regulars, all annoyed by the new forms etc but all confident in conquering the red tape. They were in and out in 10 minutes. Excellent.

I was seen after half an hour. Mine and my wife's forms were fine but my daughter's had a few problems. The birth certificate was wrong - you need the 'full' one (with parents' names etc) not the 'short' one. A quick(ish) trip to Dukinfield register office and, £9 later, I return with a copy. They'd told me I could jump the queue and a quick nod to the security guard and I'm in again. All signed and sorted. Paid and given tracking numbers and told it should be with me by about Dec 14th. The two people doing the processing are very good indeed and very nice people. ("All this pain will be worth it, mate ! Do you like beer ? 35p a pint, mate !") They are happy to correct any slight mistakes on the form.

In summary :

1. Turn up early, grab a ticket. When I returned at 11am it was pretty full.
2. Put postcodes for all addresses even though the form doesn't specify this.
3. Minors - You need the full birth certificate, sign the form on their behalf, put them down as 'STUDENT' and name the school.
4. Minors - Take a consent letter signed by both parents ("During our trip, we will be responsible for ...")
5. Minors - Take photocopies of both parent's passports.
6. BLACK pen only !
7. Photos - I took my own and printed them at home on glossy photo paper. Fine. Take 2 of each. They will glue one on and staple the other. They were letting the old format through but "only for a few more days."

It's a stressful, bureaucratic mess. The check list doesn't mirror requirements (eg birth certificate) and the processors don't seem to know just how confused applicants are. The VFS website is beyond belief.

But it can be done. And, boy, it feels good when you've cracked it.

Hello all, friends of ours asked me for info regarding getting a visa in person. They are up in Newcastle and have asked which is the nearest place for them, in the past he has gone to Edinburgh but apparently thats no longer an option. They usually make a day of it when getting their visas, travel by train have a nice lunch ect...any help would be great and I will pass it on to him asap....he is due to leave 7th Feb......many thanks...Keith

Hi Keith, you can no longer get a visa in 1 day anywhere. I was told by the guy at the Manchester that it takes 3 working days minimum to process visas. We were thinging of doing the same thing (take a day off work hand in the visas,do some shopping and then go back to collect them). Tracy

Thanks for the speedy reply, I suppose he will have to take his chances on line, but to be honest I had no problems with ours and he has plenty of time to get things organised.....thanks again Keith

Hoo Rah! Visas arrived today 2 adults one teenager 6 months multiple. Posted out to Heyes on 17th Dec old forms and pics 2 saes enclosed + extra child docs. 18 day turn around so longer than usual but acceptable as 'high volumes'.
Tracking said until 30th nov 'application created 10/11/12'
then said 'under process'
then yesterday said 'handed to royal mail'
Its pure relief once you've got them!

Hi keith,same at the london office we took them in on monday and they were ready for collection on thursday.

HELP....
ive searched everywhere regarding new "photo" sizes...
All the sites ive been on, even the vfs site, and i still states "a passport sized photo"...
Its not that i dont believe people on this site, but i need to see it in writing myself....
Please any help would be greatful...
Many thanks....Neil

Hi Neil,the photo`s definatley need to be 2" by 2" we took our applications into the visa office on monday with the new size pics,and they were telling people that it was the last day they would accept the old size,also this doesn`t become clear until you have printed off the form it is up in the right hand corner,there is also a seperate declaration that has to be printed off and signed,shop around for the pics we went to snappy snaps and paid £11 each for 2 pics.

Hi my son is considering applying in person at birmingham for visa. Does he need a SDE for the return or will he have to pick them up in person. Also will he pay by cash or debit card. He is not considering applying by post because of the hold up with the post caused by the bad weather. Mine and hubbys visas have been in the return post since tuesday and we still have not got them,so my son thinks he may be better off taking his to birmingham himself. Thanks Denham.

Hi Denham,you can either collect them in person(ours took 3 days)or have them posted to you,and payment can be either cash or card

You can also try idphoto4you Google it . hope it helps to sort your passport photos out .

Again, for Manchester, collection in person is not an option and payment must be card or postal order.

Photos - why not just avoid the expense by buying some cheap photo paper and printing your own ?

Hi Noggin,
here is the link to the VFS website where it gives the info about the new photo sizes.

http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/touristvisa_photospecs.html

Hi debs 16,thankyou for your reply.Iwill foreward it onto my son. denham.

Fed up with this "new" visa app'.
The site is certainly not bug free.Had to do 4 visa applications, lost count of how many times on the "save and continue" section, it sent me back to blank page and had to redo.
Finally got all sorted, downloaded and printed, they sent me emails with the file references to pay online and now the bloody site is down.
It's no wonder people are looking at pastures anew.

just checked my online application and the status says scan???

anyone know what this means??

Hi jonesy,scanned is the first part of the process.

They have had ours a week now and it is still showing 'record not found'.

Could anyone advise if I should be contacting them? There is no rush as we don't go till February but I'd hate to hang on and they were lost!

I also don't want to jam up their help line as it might slow someone elses down if they are dealing with lots of un-necessary enquires.

All advice welcomed

javelin,
Guessing that you paid via credit card, so how about phoning them to see if account has been debited to ensure that you have actually created an application.
I wouldn't worry too much about blocking the helplines if you do need to ring them.