UP Visa application - By mail or in person?

Hi there,

Does anybody have any advice about applying for the UP visa? I am in London and my girlfriend is in Portland, Or. Her nearest consulate for the application is in LA, but up until now we have been fairly comfortable with the idea of applying my mail. But the more I read of other people's experiences, the more it seems that the vast majority of you applied in person and sometimes both in attendance. I suppose what I'm asking is: should we stump up for the plane tickets and both appear in person in LA?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts as I'm having one of those pre-visa freak outs.

Thanks,

Matt

I don't know that the majority applied in person. It depends on the individual situation. I work 3 blocks from the Consulate in New York, so of course I would have applied in person.  But every person's situation is different.  Whether or not you applied in person or by mail would not affect the Consulate's decision about whether to approve your visa.  My fiance stayed in England, and I still got my visa.

I suppose people on this board would post more about applying in person than by post. People who have applied in person want to share their experiences at the Consulate.  People who are planning to apply in person want to know what it was like.  There's really nothing to talk about if you're just sticking your application in the post.

I suppose what I was asking was: is there a better chance of success if you apply in person?

Can anybody who's done it either way let me know please?

Thanks,

Matt

I don't think you have a better chance at success, per se.  If you meet the requirements and have all of the documentation, you'll be approved no matter how you apply.

If you have a less-than-straightforward application, it might be beneficial to apply in person so you can answer questions/make explanations if needed. 

I guess the main benefit of applying in person is that you can have your visa in one day (assuming all goes to plan). 

Thanks Lola,

I guess I should have added some more detail here. My girlfriend and I have been together for approx 3 years, but our total time living under the same roof is more like 22 months. The time we have spent apart has only been a result of our attempts to abide by our visa regs (her BUNAC visa in the UK and my J-1 in the US) and we have made several visits in either direction during the periods we have been apart. I'm just really worried that -as you say - this makes our application less straightforward, and I'm wondering if it's easier for the consul folks to throw our application in the bin if we're not sat across from them.

Any thoughts?

I didn't apply for a UP visa-- but a fiancee' visa. Mine was pretty straightforward however it got selected for a telephone interview. I think this selection was random but have no way of knowing definately. I would say if they have any questions and you apply by post they would request a phone interview or call with the questions. My application was through the NYC office and when I applied online for some reason my daughter's application did not go through. When they received my documentation they called to let me know they didn't have my daughter's application--- in fact they called three times during the day and then finally got my daughter (who is 15) and very nicely explained everything to her and asked me to call. She called me at work and I returned their call-- they were so helpful.

What does any of this have to do with your situation? Simply that my experience is they go out of their way to give you good service even if you apply by post.

Helena

Thanks HG

Well that's nice to hear. It's very easy to worry yourself to death with this stuff. Not because it's so complicated, but because the outcome is so important. I had a bad experience with one of the LA consular's telephone advisors a while ago, so it's nice to hear that not everybody handling our application will be so difficult.

We're putting together as much documentation as we possibly can, in as easy-to-decipher format as possible. Just fingers crossed now I suppose.

I remember so well that feeling of handing over the decision of your life to someone else-- it is scary indeed and we all worry so much more than we need.

Hang in there--- the day will come that you will look back at all of this and smile. It was only a year ago that I began to even think of living in the UK and now I am here-- married--- starting full time work on Monday-- and even opened my first UK bank account yesterday. It all comes together!

Your situation sounds a lot like mine and my boyfriend, hough we don't currentley have the nessecary time to apply for unmarried partners (yet).  I read on here that sometimes mail-in applications are better because they take more time to go thru all your documentation, but also that in person applications can be better because you are there to answer questions.  I think it's like Lola said, if you meet the requirments then you'll get it no matter how you apply.  Good luck, keep us posted.

Hiya

Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes.

Does anybody else have any thoughts/advice on this one? Have any of you applied through LA? Does anybody know how difficult it is to obtain a visitor's visa to the UK while waiting on an appeal (should the first application be turned down)?

Thanks!

Matt

If you don't think you meet the requirments, why not get the visitor visa first so you don't have to go thru being turned down and paying the money.  How long have you lived together for?

Sadly, I expect if you have a visa awaiting appeal, they won't let you visit here under any other visa or waiver.  They would consider you too high of a risk. 

Sadly, I expect if you have a visa awaiting appeal, they won't let you visit here under any other visa or waiver.  They would consider you too high of a risk. 

That's what I was thinking.

We've been together about three years, approx 22 months under the same roof and then lots of visits, which together bump us up to the 24 months required (see earlier post). I think we qualify, but I'm interested to know if you guys think it would be better for one of us to visit the other (either on a visitors visa or just a typical 90-day tourist visa) to make the numbers incontrivertible.

Thoughts?