UK Visa Process
Part II | Visa Approval & Return to the UK!
It only took 11 business days after our biometric appointment for our visas to return in the mail from the UK's primary visa and document scanning center in NY. We're happy to report that my Tier 2 Minister of Religion visa, along with each dependent visa, was approved by the UK government!
Our passports each returned with an official UK visa entry clearance sticker with the photo taken during the biometric appointment and a range of dates for entry listed. A border force agent must stamp these stickers before entering the country. We have since returned to the UK to pick up our Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs), which will be available 14 days after the date of issue on each visa.
Documents in Support of Visa Applications
As you know, my family and I had to return to the US to apply for visas due to the type of visa we are applying for (Minister of Religion). We did look into whether we could make the application in the UK or in the EU (Ireland, France, Netherlands), and we found that there are various types of visas that could allow for an application to be made in a country we are not from (or claim residency). But in the case of work visas, the UK usually requires an applicant to apply from their home country.
If you decide to risk applying in a third-party country, expect delays or, at worst, a denial of your visa application when you arrive at your biometric appointment. Remember that you have to pay fees for each visa application and Immigration Health Surcharge and will have to deal with the refund process, which will only further delay your applications. Though it may help in terms of convenience—it's not worth the risk.
Visa application fees from the US = $805 each
Immigration Health Surcharge for Adults (for three years) = $2,409.79 each
Immigration Health Surcharge for Children (for three years) = $2,117.58 each
As we prepared for our flight back to the US, we took inventory of the documents required to support our visas and brought them along with us. After the meticulous process of filling out an application for each person and making a payment, don't be alarmed when you're taken to the VFS portal if you selected the option of doing biometrics at a local USCIS (US Customs & Immigration Service) branch. You will be taken to a screen that lists various services offered by VFS, and a different range of bundles which include:
Receiving SMS updates
Priority labels to and from the NY scanning center
Non-priority labels
Scanning services
Don't bother adding any additional services…
Below I give intricate details about:
Which supporting documents need to be scanned and which documents need to be sent in the mail
Which services to select and what your options are
The different types of work visas and funding options we explored