When posting a new topic in Visas and Immigration

Could I please ask, that when starting a new topic in Visas that  you try to make it clear what your question is about in your subject line.  For instance, please write Question about FLR instead of HELP ME!!!.  It makes it easier for the next person looking for that information to find it, is quicker for people who actually know the answer and makes it easier for the moderators to keep track of the different threads.  Your question will get read and generally people get a lot of help and information here, whether they had a desperate thread title or not. 

Thanks.

Could I also suggest that people give a bit of background about their own situation when asking a question?  Most people are pretty good about it, but some people just come in and ask how to get a particular type of visa without telling us anything about their situation, which makes it pretty difficult to offer help.   

Maybe we should have a general queries thread, so there's not 1800 new threads in the same day asking the SAME QUESTION ("Help me, I don't know which visa I need!").  Lola's new sticky should HOPEFULLY help a lot, if only people would read around before they posted.

Tell it like it is - if you're not a student, partner to UK citizen, highly-skilled, Commonwealth/EU citizen, or been hired to work in the UK, the odds of you being able to live & work in the UK are quite small!  Fact of life which we must all accept.  Some of us just have to realise we have to go home someday .

Could I also suggest that people give a bit of background about their own situation when asking a question?  Most people are pretty good about it, but some people just come in and ask how to get a particular type of visa without telling us anything about their situation, which makes it pretty difficult to offer help.   

Good idea.

In addition, someone who is reading such a post can click on the person's profile and look at their other posts (if they've posted before) to get an idea of their situation.

Also, if someone is posting about work,they should say right away whether they are eligible to work in the UK (e.g. an EU citizen). It's often one of the first things that gets asked when someone posts about finding a job. (I guess this  paragraph would be better in the On the Job forum. )

Can I put a little note here, too?  Might help with some of the confusion about terms:

A "visa" is permission to ENTER a country.  This is obtained prior to entry.  Fiance' visa, spouse visa, HSMP visa - these are all applied for when you are still in your country of origin and CANNOT be applied for in the UK.

"Leave to Remain" is permission to STAY in a country.  This is obtained whilst in the country, usually due to a change of status of some sort, i.e. having entered on a Fiancee' visa, you have married and now wish to remain the UK as a spouse.

Spouse Visa is "equal" to Further Leave to Remain as they are both good for 2 years.  They are technically the same thing, but the terminology is dependent upon whether you apply for the visa before coming to the UK, or the leave to remain from within the UK.

Hope that helps a little bit?

Not quite right...

Some visas can be applied for on entry, ie visit visas for US nationals.  You get leave to enter stamped in your passport - that's a visa.

Spouse visas and HSMP visas can be applied for from within the UK in limited circumstances.

Leave to remain can be issued if current status is being extended, as well as when there is a switch.

Sorry to be a Picky Vicky...

 

Vicky

If you want to post correspondence or email that you received from the British government, that's wonderful because it helps everyone.  Correspondence gives glimpse into the way things work, and people here are glad for the insight.

But please remember that correspondence of any sort which identifies a named individual below the rank of Deputy Director can get UKY in bad graces.  It is BANG OUT OF LINE and we don't want that because are taking up advocacy with them, and they can refuse to speak to us unless we go by the rules.

So please expunge from your correspondence anything that identifies a named individual below the rank of Deputy Director before posting it.  Also any email addresses or telephone numbers. 

Once you do that, everything's fine.  It is welcome material.  You can help others in similar situations...

[MOD NOTE]

Please do not post visas questions in this thread.  Either post a new thread or look for an appropriate one in the visa section.

Off topic posts have been moved to their own thread.

Not quite right...

Some visas can be applied for on entry, ie visit visas for US nationals.  You get leave to enter stamped in your passport - that's a visa.

Spouse visas and HSMP visas can be applied for from within the UK in limited circumstances.

Leave to remain can be issued if current status is being extended, as well as when there is a switch.

Sorry to be a Picky Vicky...

 

Vicky

Technically if you just enter the country without applying for a visa beforehand and they stamp your passport, it isn't a proper visa, it's entering via the Visa Waiver Program, or VWP.  It's only between a number of countries, but it allows you to enter on a temporary visit without having to apply for a visa. Was that picky enough? 

If we are going to get technical...

The Visa Waiver Program or VWP is an American thing and has to do with entering the US.  The fact that Americans misuse their jargon is fine, but shouldn't be taken to mean that the UK actually has a VWP...

If you are in the UK without a visa, you're illegal.  The rectangular and pentagonal stamps used by British Immigration Officers at entry ports are LLE and LLR respectively, and they are visas.  Visas issued by a consular post abroad are called 'entry clearances' so as to keep the two concepts separate.  That's why they invented a different term.

Every few years, the SSHD will conduct a 'visa waiver test' to determine which countries do not need entry clearances.  It's a different exercise.

And to be VERY technical, if and when the UK decides to abandon the entry clearance model in favour of the American model, they will call it the Visa Waiver Programme so that we will be able to tell the difference.

Technically if you just enter the country without applying for a visa beforehand and they stamp your passport, it isn't a proper visa, it's entering via the Visa Waiver Program, or VWP.  It's only between a number of countries, but it allows you to enter on a temporary visit without having to apply for a visa. Was that picky enough? 

And as Garry has said, it is wrong.  The UK do not have a visa waiver programme.  If you are here, you have a visa.  It may have been put in your passport by the immigration officer rather than an ECO, but you have a visa.

Vicky

Help- What is the Difference between a Student VISA  and Student Dependant more than 6 months VISA. I am a student headed to St Andrews and concerned that the form I filled out has come back: Student Dependant more than 6 months when what I wanted was just a student VISA. Should I start again?

Help- What is the Difference between a Student VISA  and Student Dependant more than 6 months VISA. I am a student headed to St Andrews and concerned that the form I filled out has come back: Student Dependant more than 6 months when what I wanted was just a student VISA. Should I start again?

A student dependent is the spouse or child of a international student in the UK who has a student visa.  If you are the one studying, you need a student visa *not* student dependent.

Somebody needs to tell the Home Office that the little stamps in the passports are visas, since their website defines 'visa' as the thing glued in your passport at an embassy or high commission abroad:

"What is a visa?
A visa is a certificate that is put into your passport or travel document by an Entry Clearance Officer at a British mission overseas. The visa gives you permission to enter the UK."

That's from http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/.

If they used their terms properly, the rest of us might find it easier to do the same.

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