9 replies to this topic

[glosboy]

My thai GF is having her interview on Friday with the UK embassy in regards to a 6 months tourist visa. My son will also be travelling on his UK passport.. My question is what is the time period after this interview that will she be authorised to travel? Is the the visa issued immediately after interview? I really dont know. All I need to know is a time scale so I can arrange flights, UK family visits, etc. Thanks for any help.

[7-Eleven]

I would assume that unless she stated on the application form she wanted to post date the visa (you are allowed to post date up to three months) then it will be issued fairly quickly after the interview (providing the interview goes ok) but it may not be immediate.

It's really not a good idea to be booking flights before you know you have the visa.

[GoldCoastJon]

As Serpentine mentioned don't book tickets until its been approved otherwise this could cause more headaches for you should you need to amend or change dates

[bernardcole]

5-10 days

[thaitiger]

sorry for bursting in on this thread but my wifes mother had a fone interview regarding her 2 childrens settlement visa apps can i ask will it be the same time period 5-10days for a decision on that too??

[IW75]

How did the interview go? Did you find out what the time scale was?

[Big Casino]

It normally takes 10 to 14 days if she has everything she requires at the interview. The Visa will run from the date she enters on the form.

Big Casino.

[garyka]

I didnt know that they can call you in for a interview for a tourist visa, my girlfriend just got a phone call & they asked her 2 or 3 questions, about her job & why she wanted to go to the uk, but when you send in the application you put in a travel date, the visa usually takes only 4 or 5 days for the results to come back, good luck with the interview.

[superconsult]

thaitiger, on 17 May 2011 - 06:32 PM, said:

sorry for bursting in on this thread but my wifes mother had a fone interview regarding her 2 childrens settlement visa apps can i ask will it be the same time period 5-10days for a decision on that too??

For settlement visa applications, the decision would normally be available between 1-2 months depending whether the documentations are in order or an interview is required.  If everything is ok, you should be informed that the Passport is ready for collection and the timing is about 1-2 months from the date of application.

If there shall be an interview, it means that the Embassy is not fully satisfifed with the supporting documents and thus they would ask for more supporting documents.  If that's the case, you will receive a call from the UK Visa appn centre asking you to collect an interview paper from them in which the date and time of appointment will be stated and you will also find out if there's any requested further documents to be produced at the time of interview.  So, it may take more than 2 months to get the decision depending on the date of interview.

Good luck !

[superconsult]

garyka, on 12 August 2011 - 07:45 PM, said:

I didnt know that they can call you in for a interview for a tourist visa, my girlfriend just got a phone call & they asked her 2 or 3 questions, about her job & why she wanted to go to the uk, but when you send in the application you put in a travel date, the visa usually takes only 4 or 5 days for the results to come back, good luck with the interview.

There's no rule that interview is not required for all tourist visa applications.  It very much depends on the background of the applicant.  If a previous tourist visa application was rejected and there's been no material change of circumstances, in particular, the supporting documents are still insufficient, the Embassy officer (who shall not be the same officer) may choose to interview her to find out if he/she can find out any oral information directing to the approval or refusal of the visa application.  In normal cases, it's a sign of good news because the officer is likely to grant the tourist visa after interview unless the visa applicant made some big mistakes.  If the officer is minded not to grant the tourist visa, he would not have chosen to interview the applicant.  As I know, the outcome of such application should be known on the same date of interview for a tourist visa application.

The recent practice is that for tourist visa applications, the officers are more likely to telephone the applicants for asking some questions or clarifications than to arrange an interview for obvious reasons like time involved and security of the Embassy.

Even for a settlement visa application, I came across one case when my client, an infant applicant, obtained her settlement visa one hour after the interview was conducted.  Of course, it's possible that the results will only be known after a few days if the settlement visa application is not a straight forward one.