Healthcare surcharge???

From the time you lodge the online application, how many days after is the appointment time at VFS?I would be glad to know so i can estimate my stay in Manila when i go .Thank you

good question--i would like to know too.

then theres the trip for the CFO thing---in our case this is on top of several trips to the hospital in makati for my fiancee. for her its an 8 hour bus ride.---each time.

i just look forward to her final one way trip to the airport.

Hi bigmac. You book the appointment to suit you own circumstances. After you pay the visa application fee, you are then directed to book the VFS Global appointment. In my wife's case I saw appointments the following day I think and there were plenty of appointment slots available during the following weeks. I have read others posting on this forum that booked four weeks after paying the visa application fee.

In our own case, I submitted the on-line visa application as soon as my wife had received the visa supporting documents from me via DHL. But submitting the on-line application generates further documents that have to be printed and included in the supporting documents, so take that into account when booking the VFS Global appointment.

I was very close to getting into the same problems as @Methersgate even though I re-started the visa application after 5 July. I think if you close the window to pay for the IHS Surcharge before paying, there is no way to re-open the window and you are completely stymied.

Yet another government IT project that is unfit for purpose.

I submitted the on-line visa application as soon as my wife had received the visa supporting documents from me via DHL. But submitting the on-line application generates further documents that have to be printed and included in the supporting documents


thanks for that advice Howerd-----i wouldnt have known--and would be seriously enraged if i had to send 2 DHL envelopes. so i wait to send till after the online submission. this is timely advice for anyone else about to apply.

can i ask what these other documents are ?

When you submit the application online it generates and prints a pre-filled copy of the VAF4A application form that needs to be printed, signed and dated. I think you also need to print out the interview confirmation for VFS and finally, also, if you pay for premium lounge service, you also get an email for that with some barcodes in it that needs to be printed out too. When I applied I also included print out of the IHS confirmation email and IHS payment but since that's now integrated with the application (it was separate when I applied) I'm not too sure how that works now.

You won't need to send two DHL envelopes. All the other documents produced after you submit the on-line application, your loved one can print out at her end. ChoiandJohn have given a good explanation of those documents.

Submitting the on-line application generated about 5-6 emails so, I got my wife to print those, but it also generates a copy of the on-line application as well and you have to print two of those. I just put everything in one PDF so that my wife could just go to a local printer with that PDF on a memory stick. If your wife cannot do that, some commercial printing firms will let you send all the documents by e-mail to be printed.

K got the Premium Lounge appointment printed at her nearest Internet cafe.

however, it did not seem to do much good, so far as the courier was concerned, as she had to pay 5,000 pesos for the courier that we had already paid for. She did say the people were nice.

I will take note of this point, altho i will be doing the online registration very soon with the assistance of a lawyer from our agency because I don't think i would do this alone, given that there are humps and bumps along the way.The excitement of lodging the visa app and mind already set on waiting , suddenly encountering such.

I don't understand that as the Premium Lounge definitely includes courier delivery. I did read that some VFS Global outlets is South East Asia are, effectively, conning people.

I think as you never got the IHS Surcharge reference number, VFS Global should have suggested that you start the application again rather than going ahead with the biometrics. That would have enabled you to get the visa application fee back without any problems.

Apparently, in South East Asia, some VFS Global outlets have been performing a 'con' on applicants by not submitting all documents presented to them, meaning that applicants have to re-apply.

Mine is an hour flight and several hours more I am planning to submit my documents at VFS Cebu.It is more practical for me then.

Even with great care, it is so easy to make an expensive mistake.

My wife went to Cebo too, so most of my comments relate to VFS, Cebu

I'm crossing my fingers that everything would just turn out good and smooth when it's my time to lodge!Or maybe i need my eyes crossed, arms crossed and leg crossed.. and every body part that can be crossed, I MUST!

Now the plan seems close to finalization..Cebu is better!I should convince Mr.Nickel with this!

I would say the same, but my wife would seek god's blessings!

I think VFS Global used to host the websites to do the application. But someone found the website to be insecure, meaning that others could view visa applications. I think that is when the UK government decided to take over the visa application process on their own website.

I agree and ...That's no.1 to me!

VFS are an Indian company.

Why Theresa May thought it was a good idea to allow an Indian company anywhere near the control of UK immigration, I cannot begin to imagine. Or rather, I can, but I really hope I am wrong.

That doesn't surprise me Andrew, when I attended the British Consulate in Dubai a few years back regarding a UK visit visa for the wife there wasn't a British person to be seen, all Indians which I found very annoying. When you get turned down for a British visa I want it to be a British person who is making the decision not one of our old colonial friends who are employed because they are cheaper to employ.

You have obviously been doing your homework.