Applying for UK Visitor Visa

[Edwe]

I am hoping someone who has applied for a UK Visitor Visa recently can give me some advice. I am able to get a really good deal (like once-a-year bargain price) on return flights to London.

We are relatively financially constrained, but employed full-time and ~3 months before the hypothetical date of departure, we should have ~R120k saved up, projecting conservatively from our average savings over the past year. I have worked out a detailed itinerary and budget, and it seems like this will be sufficient to cover our travels costs, accommodation, food and touristy activities for a couple of weeks if we are careful with the money and the exchange rate doesn't deteriorate any more rapidly than it has been doing recently.

My question: am I likely to be granted a visa with so little in my bank account? I know it's never a sure thing, and the embassy advises people not to pay for tickets before being approved, but in practice, would you wager the cost of plane tickets on it? Also, we have a family friend who is a UK citizen. To what extent would it help to get a letter from her assuring that we can stay with her in case anything goes awry?

 

[P924]

You need to show you have accomodation (like booking confirmations from booking.com etc.). They also look at what you have in the bank at the time of your application.

If it is a bargain, buy the tickets and get travel insurance that will reimburse your ticket costs if you do not get a visa.

 

[Jehosefat]

I don't see it being a problem.

I am taking a friend to London on holiday with me in a week (well for me its a business trip, for her its a holiday). She's currently unemployed and we had no issue getting her a visa with about GBP2000 in cash and a letter from my bank that said I had R50k available on my credit card. We did have a booking confirmation from the hotel as well.

Just to add, I have a British passport which may have helped.

 

[Venomous]

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa



get a letter of invitation from the friend and their husband/wife if married.

the tickets: the visa app asks for the dates and itinery. When I've helped people apply I recommend having them, though they say don't. a catch 22. the visa needs to know where, what etc. But don't buy the tickets. Any airline/travel agent never holds tickets for more than x number of hours/days.

 

[P924]

If you do get a letter from your friend, it needs to be the original, so you would have to have it mailed or couriered.

 

[Venomous]

all you need is on that site. it even links to the app.

About 2 weeks ago the £87 equated to R2001.

remember the visa start date is the day they approve it, and is valid max 6 months. I recomnend only applying 5-8weeks prior and not earlier.
estimated by them is a 15 work day wait.

 

[Venomous]

If you do get a letter from your friend, it needs to be the original, so you would have to have it mailed or couriered.

simply print on a colour printer, fold it like a letter.
They must also send certified copies of their passports or some form of ID.

 

[Venomous]

oh and make sure that landline and address are on the letter. embassy people will not phone mobile numbers for various reasons.

 

[deweyzeph]

At the end of the day their biggest concern is that you have enough money to support yourself AND that you have an incentive to return back to SA at the end of your stay.

To satisfy their concerns that you have enough money to support yourself I would recommend you provide:

Bank Statements showing your savings
Credit Card statements with a clear indication of your credit limit
Last 6 months of payslips
Letter of employment confirming your salary and period of employment and approval for leave

To satisfy their concerns that you will return back to SA:

Bond statements if you own your house or rental agreement if you rent
Letter of employment confirming your employment (same as above)

 

[Edwe]

I don't see it being a problem.

I am taking a friend to London on holiday with me in a week (well for me its a business trip, for her its a holiday). She's currently unemployed and we had no issue getting her a visa with about GBP2000 in cash and a letter from my bank that said I had R50k available on my credit card. We did have a booking confirmation from the hotel as well.

So they take available credit into account and not just actual balance? We will have way more "available" at that point and it shouldn't be a problem getting a letter from the bank confirming that our limits are guaranteed.

If you do get a letter from your friend, it needs to be the original, so you would have to have it mailed or couriered.

This isn't a problem: she is visiting us in November. Just wondering: I see from some sources that an invitation letter needs to be signed by a commissioner of oaths. Anyone know whether this has to be done by someone in the UK or should they be fine with an SA CoO doing it here if she writes the letter here?

EDIT: she will be here about 6 months before we go to the UK and will be back in Oxford by that time.

 

[PsYTraNc3]

Is it easier getting an invite or proving that you have sufficient funds?

I will be travelling to the UK (and Norway) in September.
The trip to Norway will be covered by the company I work for and they will provide a letter taking responsibility for me, covering all costs and accommodation.
From there, I will make my way to the UK at my own cost.
I have siblings in the UK but was told that getting an invite from them would be more complicated since lots of information will be required from them too.

I will have a sufficient amount of funds in my account even though my siblings plan to cover my food\accommodation while I'm there.

 

[Edwe]

Is it easier getting an invite or proving that you have sufficient funds?

I will be travelling to the UK (and Norway) in September.
The trip to Norway will be covered by the company I work for and they will provide a letter taking responsibility for me, covering all costs and accommodation.
From there, I will make my way to the UK at my own cost.
I have siblings in the UK but was told that getting an invite from them would be more complicated since lots of information will be required from them too.

I will have a sufficient amount of funds in my account even though my siblings plan to cover my food\accommodation while I'm there.

Well, it depends on what is considered "sufficient funds" by the UK embassy, I guess. Basically, that's what I'm trying to find out. Getting a letter is very little trouble for me, but it does apparently involve significant effort for the person writing the letter, and I would feel bad about asking her such a big favour even though I know her really well.

Besides, we wouldn't be staying with her anyway, except maybe for a night or two if she invites us.

 

[Venomous]

Is it easier getting an invite or proving that you have sufficient funds?

I will be travelling to the UK (and Norway) in September.
The trip to Norway will be covered by the company I work for and they will provide a letter taking responsibility for me, covering all costs and accommodation.
From there, I will make my way to the UK at my own cost.
I have siblings in the UK but was told that getting an invite from them would be more complicated since lots of information will be required from them too.

I will have a sufficient amount of funds in my account even though my siblings plan to cover my food\accommodation while I'm there.

only need from who you will stay with.
they need to provide letter of invite.
letter from their work, on letterhead, stating their position in the company, with contactable person and landline number.
the husband/wife team must do that.
and that makes it tedious.
they don't have to provide bank statements, but you must go to your bank and as for them to print/stamp it on their colour letterhead

 

[Dretastic06]

are you a blesser

 

[PsYTraNc3]

Well, it depends on what is considered "sufficient funds" by the UK embassy, I guess. Basically, that's what I'm trying to find out. Getting a letter is very little trouble for me, but it does apparently involve significant effort for the person writing the letter, and I would feel bad about asking her such a big favour even though I know her really well.

Besides, we wouldn't be staying with her anyway, except maybe for a night or two if she invites us.

I will have a similar amount as you available and to use for myself only.
Also only staying for two weeks.

only need from who you will stay with.
they need to provide letter of invite.
letter from their work, on letterhead, stating their position in the company, with contactable person and landline number.
the husband/wife team must do that.
and that makes it tedious.
they don't have to provide bank statements, but you must go to your bank and as for them to print/stamp it on their colour letterhead

Then I will just apply for the visa on my own.
Will they ask many questions if I mention I have family there?

 

[Venomous]

I will have a similar amount as you available and to use for myself only.
Also only staying for two weeks.



Then I will just apply for the visa on my own.
Will they ask many questions if I mention I have family there?

If you can prove you can see to yourself (your bankstatements), and you will be staying by them, get a letter of invite and their passport/residency visa. Leave the other letter from their work.

on the application you will have to list them and their passport numbers if you will live with them.

 

[ISP cash cow]

As what has been mentioned above the amount in the bank account is not really an issue. The reason why the consulate asks for bank statements is just to verify that you have monthly income and expenses, which shows that you will more than likely be returning back to your home residence after your trip.

I would just put the visa down as leisure and then show the return flights and list the hotel where you are planning on staying. Also as been mentioned before it is difficult as the visa tells you not to confirm your flights and accomodation beforehand but they basically want proof of your flights and details.

before I got my British passport I used to just book for all my flights and accomodation and send it through to them with my bank details and a letter from my company (on a company letterhead) just saying that I will be taking leave, traveling overseas and that I will be continuing my position at the company on my return on xxx date.

I never had a problem.

 

[Openhost]

They basically need to see you can sustain yourself there for the period, @ a certain rate per day, ie: Schengen Visa is 35€ per day.

Then they'll also want to see that you get a salary every month.

Show travel insurance docs, show accommodation, show and public transport docs, ie: train or cruises etc etc and know the address of the places you're going to stay. They should give you a list of docs to take with.

Having 120k saved in 1 year is not being financially constrained.

You can apply for visas again if you made a mistake. So, chances that you'll get it 2nd time round is good. Just know exactly what you said in your first interview.

Don't stress, just have everything ready according to the list they provide.

 

[cguy]

My wife and I and some family members did this a few months ago (wife and I atually applied for 2 year visas since we fly there often). We didn't book flight tickets or hotels before we applied (risky, and they say that they don't want you to do this at every step of the application process).

FYI, if you really want to, hotels can be booked with 100% return on cancellation for a small premium (actually, it's usually default, but you will see that there are ~10% discounts if you pay upfront and non-refundable).

I think that ~50k in the bank is usually enough, as long as the amount that is available and your amount available for your holiday (values asked for on the visa form), and your savings all work out. I got a letter from my company saying that I am employed and will be returning for employment. I also provided a bank statement showing monthly income and expenses (protip: have multiple bank accounts so that you don't have to give your entire life story if you don't want to - the UK government now knows that I have enough, and earn enough, but they don't know how much I earn or what all my savings are).

I paid for my family members, so I wrote a letter saying that I would be paying for them, which they used for their visa applications. I also paid for expedited visas (US side), so I got our visas in 2 days.

 

[Enigma_]

They have no problem accepting your Visa request if you can prove that you are able to financially support yourself and/or prove that you will be provided accommodation from family there.

You'll need to provide them with the contact details, address and information of the family members you will be staying with, UK immigration will contact your family members if they are skeptical about your stay in the UK. A letter of invitation from said family members goes a long way as well this would state that you would be staying with them from x to x period and that they will be providing and supporting you during your trip.

You'll then need to provide an estimate on your costs while you're in the UK, and then a copy of your bank statements and proof of income or payslip (If you don't want to hand over payslip, ask your company for a letter) so they can confirm that you're able to support yourself. If you're being supported by someone else, you'd state that on the form and have a letter from the supporting person along with their bank statement.

Also, anything that shows that you HAVE to return back to SA is a good thing, they just want to make sure that you don't continue to lurk there or work, or even search for work whilst you are there. So stating that you have family, a dependent or spouse in SA will help your application.