Packing and Sending Spousal App to Courier--LA

I think it's when people go across the channel to France and such, then come back through UK immigration and get their stamp to validate their visas.

Okay, that's what I assumed... Is this a valid way of doing it? I don't want to do anything shady!

I plan on using Global VIP because it seems a lot of people had good experiences with them (for the most part) and their rates seem pretty reasonable to me.

But there's a couple points I'm not entirely sure on:

1.) I'm under the impression when I send something to the courier, I'll have to use an airway bill, yeah? My fiance explained it to me, and I heard it mentioned once before here on the forums, but I wanted to double check to see if that was the right way to sort out all the payment issues in terms of shipping the package back and forth.

2.) All I need to do is print off the order form off the website and include the payment, I think? There isn't anything special I need to send with the actual application, just those two things?

3.) Do I need to let them know ahead of time that I'm sending a package down to them? I don't know if I need to call or email ahead of time, or if they know enough what to do with it with the order form included.

I just used Global VIP a couple of weeks ago, here is what I did:-

Called them the day before I was sending my application package and all documents to let them know to expect package the following day, who it was being shipped/mailed with etc..

I used UPS.  I went to a UPS Store and had them send it directly to the address that is on the Website (which by the way is a residential address) with a signature required upon delivery. 

You can send your application anyway you wish, Fed-Ex, UPS, DHL or USPS.  Going overnight with a signature requirement will be the safest route.

Inside my package was my application and documents inside a binder with a list of contents and tabs separating all the sections with a full copy of the application/documents as backup inside a separate envelope. I also printed out their piece of paper that had their costs on and my name, address, kind of visa etc... and included two money orders, one for their fee $100 and one for the fee to ship back my originals etc... $28.   Cost me approx $71 to send but I had one full copy of everything in that binder.  The binder was just a bendy plastic one which wasn't very heavy.

Nadereh called me the morning she received the package and said she would look over it during the day.  She called me in the afternoon to verify some dates  and then said everything appeared to be in order and that she would take my package to the LA Consulate the following morning.  The following afternoon she called me again to say that she had my husbands visa in her hand and that she would be sending all my originals back the following day.  I received the visa and originals 2 days later via USPS. 

It all went very smooth because I had everything in order and was probably over zealous plus I had everything neatly laid out in a binder with tabs separating each section and a list of contents.  The ECO would easily have been able to find whatever piece of paper they were looking for.  I know I went above & beyond but for me it is better to put your best foot forward initially than to regret not dotting your i's and crossing your t's.  I just thought I would make it easier for the ECO.

If you need any examples of letters (pm me).

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I know we have already had a back & forth on another topic about my DH getting his visa, but I thought I would post again in case anyone else is interested.

BTW for anyone else that is interested here is my list of contents of what I included in folder for the ECO (bearing in mind, DH & I have been married 10yrs).

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=52460.0

Awesome, thanks for that, now I kinda know what I'm getting into I've already got a table of contents in my head and I'm working out how I'll sort everything because I'm naturally a bit neurotic about that stuff, and I want to make it as easy as it can be for the ECO. It won't be a problem to sort out getting it down there, plenty of options up here to use, so it seems simple enough to send it off. I just didn't want to miss some fine print or somesuch, because it'd be my luck that I would 

I just edited my last post because I remembered that we had already chatted about this.

You'll be fine    You are prepared and taking advice off of here.  I'm so glad that I found this place before applying, it made it so much easier.

Better to have more documents than less, JMHO.

BTW Portland Biometrics are great, quick and easy.

Another BTW, I'm in Lincoln City - yipee, all that rain 

I had a word with my fiance, so we'll be able to sort out the courier without too many problems (he works for DHL, so he's familiar with the process somewhat). And it sounds like Portland biometrics aren't too bad, so I think I'm set, your help is way appreciated

I love vacationing in Lincoln City, but it can be rainy It's been off and on here in the mainland today, I don't think it can make its mind here in Oregon sometimes.

I had a word with my fiance, so we'll be able to sort out the courier without too many problems (he works for DHL, so he's familiar with the process somewhat). And it sounds like Portland biometrics aren't too bad, so I think I'm set, your help is way appreciated

I love vacationing in Lincoln City, but it can be rainy It's been off and on here in the mainland today, I don't think it can make its mind here in Oregon sometimes.

Just to let you know:

Lincoln City is supposed to be having a fabulous weekend regarding the weather  I just love it here when it isn't raining, at least the worst of rainy season is over for now so we can now enjoy the changeable days of spring.  Overall we had a great winter with lots of sunny and/or dry days, no major storms to speak of, not like last winter (Dec 07) which was a doozy  .

If you weren't planning on leaving this beautiful state I would tell you that L/City is having a town wide yard sale and I have the pleasure of joining in because of our move in November.  I have a garage full of crap to offload so I will be tied to my house Fri afternoon, Sat all day and Sun all day.  What Joy 

I should also add that I just re-checked prices, and flights to London have gone up even more. so it's more like a saving of $400+! However, if the only way is to fly into London first, I will do it.

Okay, that's what I assumed... Is this a valid way of doing it? I don't want to do anything shady!

To be honest, it is really not wise to travel through Ireland at all when you first arrive in the UK as you will probably not be able to find an Immigration Officer to stamp your visa anyway (even if you find one, there is no guarantee that they will agree to stamp it), which will then mean that you will have been let into Ireland as a visitor for 90 days, but you will not have a valid entry stamp for the UK. You could channel hop to get the visa stamped, but if you don't do this then you will need to make sure you keep every scrap of evidence you can find to prove that you entered the UK on that particular date, otherwise you can run into problems when you apply for your next visa.

It might be cheaper to fly via Dublin, but you'll need to weigh up whether or not it is worth the hassle of not activating your visa upon arrival to the UK. Depending on where in the UK you will be living, you might find that it will cost you a similar amount to do a channel hop to get the visa validated as it would have just to fly to London directly in the first place.

Just to let you know:

Lincoln City is supposed to be having a fabulous weekend regarding the weather  I just love it here when it isn't raining, at least the worst of rainy season is over for now so we can now enjoy the changeable days of spring.  Overall we had a great winter with lots of sunny and/or dry days, no major storms to speak of, not like last winter (Dec 07) which was a doozy  .

If you weren't planning on leaving this beautiful state I would tell you that L/City is having a town wide yard sale and I have the pleasure of joining in because of our move in November.  I have a garage full of crap to offload so I will be tied to my house Fri afternoon, Sat all day and Sun all day.  What Joy 

A lot of times we try to go in late spring, early summer, or we'll try to take trips there in the late summer when it's way too hot to live here in the metro area It's a beautiful town, I want to take Steve there but my transportation options are a bit limited  But we'll see what we can do, since I love being near the ocean. That yard sale sounds like loads of fun, especially when you can be doing other things while living in Lincoln City, right next to a big ocean

A lot of times we try to go in late spring, early summer, or we'll try to take trips there in the late summer when it's way too hot to live here in the metro area It's a beautiful town, I want to take Steve there but my transportation options are a bit limited  But we'll see what we can do, since I love being near the ocean. That yard sale sounds like loads of fun, especially when you can be doing other things while living in Lincoln City, right next to a big ocean

I have to be honest, I don't go to the beach very often, I can hear it at night (because this town dies at 8pm and you can hear a pin drop as no-one seems to be on the roads) drive alongside it most days but I just don't go and walk on the beach.  In the summer it blows like a son of a gun and the rest of the year it is blowy, rainy, drizzly and cold.  I lost both my dogs within 2 months of each other this year and the beach just doesn't hold the same appeal when I can't walk them.  Also I am partial to the beaches where I grew up and prefer them loads over here.  Plus when I am home I have nephews, brothers, SIL's and my parents all walking and playing on the beach with me so it is not the same here alone without them.  Also in the summer you can actually sit on the beach at home without getting windblown, here not so much.  Can't wait to be back on my favorite Cornish beaches this November.

My parents are flying in for 5 weeks at the end of August (September really is the best month here as the kids have gone back to school and there are less tourists).  You should bring Steve here to L/City, if you want to meet up just PM me.

BTW DH & I are the opposite to you, we always want to go into the valley to get some heat.  He is an East Coast boy so he is use to hot, humid summers and misses them sometimes.  It usually only takes one or two trips into the valley on a hot day to remind us of why we love being at the beach where it is cooler.

That is one of the things I find so amazing about Oregon, we have 5/6 climate zones here, you go from the temperate cool coast to the rain forests of the Coastal Mountain Range to the fertile wine growing region of the valley to the snow capped Cascade Mountains to Central Oregon which is getting hotter and less trees to the desert and then high desert of Eastern Oregon..........utterly amazing.  There truly isn't anywhere else on earth that I can imagine having all that within a few hours drive.

There won't be any immigration officers if you fly from Dublin, and apparently, it is illegal for them to stamp anyone who is coming from the CTA.  They won't do it, even if you find them.  So you either have to channel hop or collect a load of evidence showing you're living here, and hope for the best come ILR/probationary citizenship time.  That's what I've had to do, and it's not a course I'd recommend.  If you can scrape the extra $400 from somewhere, it's probably worth that in peace of mind. 

There won't be any immigration officers if you fly from Dublin, and apparently, it is illegal for them to stamp anyone who is coming from the CTA.  They won't do it, even if you find them.  So you either have to channel hop or collect a load of evidence showing you're living here, and hope for the best come ILR/probationary citizenship time.  That's what I've had to do, and it's not a course I'd recommend.  If you can scrape the extra $400 from somewhere, it's probably worth that in peace of mind. 

I may just get a Ryan air flight from Dublin to Paris, and then Paris to London. It's a lot of extra hassle, but I feel like it might be worth it for the money issue. 

I have to be honest, I don't go to the beach very often, I can hear it at night (because this town dies at 8pm and you can hear a pin drop as no-one seems to be on the roads) drive alongside it most days but I just don't go and walk on the beach.  In the summer it blows like a son of a gun and the rest of the year it is blowy, rainy, drizzly and cold.  I lost both my dogs within 2 months of each other this year and the beach just doesn't hold the same appeal when I can't walk them.  Also I am partial to the beaches where I grew up and prefer them loads over here.  Plus when I am home I have nephews, brothers, SIL's and my parents all walking and playing on the beach with me so it is not the same here alone without them.  Also in the summer you can actually sit on the beach at home without getting windblown, here not so much.  Can't wait to be back on my favorite Cornish beaches this November.

My parents are flying in for 5 weeks at the end of August (September really is the best month here as the kids have gone back to school and there are less tourists).  You should bring Steve here to L/City, if you want to meet up just PM me.

BTW DH & I are the opposite to you, we always want to go into the valley to get some heat.  He is an East Coast boy so he is use to hot, humid summers and misses them sometimes.  It usually only takes one or two trips into the valley on a hot day to remind us of why we love being at the beach where it is cooler.

That is one of the things I find so amazing about Oregon, we have 5/6 climate zones here, you go from the temperate cool coast to the rain forests of the Coastal Mountain Range to the fertile wine growing region of the valley to the snow capped Cascade Mountains to Central Oregon which is getting hotter and less trees to the desert and then high desert of Eastern Oregon..........utterly amazing.  There truly isn't anywhere else on earth that I can imagine having all that within a few hours drive.

Sorry to hear about your dogs I guess when you live close to the coast it's not as big of a deal as it is for us further in, it usually takes a couple hours to get to the beach so we have to make a day out of it. But I'm gonna try to get Steve to take me to an English coast somewhere, he owes me that since I took him up to Seaside the first time he visited the States

That's what I try to tell his family about Oregon--one moment in one spot it can be freezing, but in another it can be sunny and warm, it just depends on what chunk you live in Last summer it was horrendous, easily 100 degrees here in the valley, and loads of people were trying to get to the beach since it was easily 20-30 degrees cooler in those areas.

If I can try to pull together a visit to Lincoln City I'll let you know--it's a bit of a stretch because I don't have a car, but I'll have a word with Steve and see

I may just get a Ryan air flight from Dublin to Paris, and then Paris to London. It's a lot of extra hassle, but I feel like it might be worth it for the money issue. 

I understand the delicate balance between hassle and cost. I once had to get to Aberdeen so I flew to London, then took a 12-hour Megabus ride for only £14.   But one thing to remember with Ryan Air is that they have a very strict luggage policy.  On their site it says "Each passenger is permitted to check in up to 3 bags with a maximum combined weight of 15kgs [33 pounds], subject to the payment of the applicable checked baggage fees."  33 pounds might be a bit tight for traveling to the UK either permanently or semi-permanently.  Usually there's a huge luggage allowance for cross-Atlantic flights, but once you switch airlines to flying within Europe, and especially on low budget airlines, the luggage allowance plummets.

If you do channel hop my husband and I recently went from Newcastle to Paris on Eurostar for £76 return each.  If flights are cheaper to Paris (or check Brussels too), you could also get a one-way Eurostar ticket from Paris to London for £60.  I can vouch that we had no problem with luggage weight on the train and they'll stamp your passport on the way.

I understand the delicate balance between hassle and cost. I once had to get to Aberdeen so I flew to London, then took a 12-hour Megabus ride for only £14.   But one thing to remember with Ryan Air is that they have a very strict luggage policy.  On their site it says "Each passenger is permitted to check in up to 3 bags with a maximum combined weight of 15kgs [33 pounds], subject to the payment of the applicable checked baggage fees."  33 pounds might be a bit tight for traveling to the UK either permanently or semi-permanently.  Usually there's a huge luggage allowance for cross-Atlantic flights, but once you switch airlines to flying within Europe, and especially on low budget airlines, the luggage allowance plummets.

If you do channel hop my husband and I recently went from Newcastle to Paris on Eurostar for £76 return each.  If flights are cheaper to Paris (or check Brussels too), you could also get a one-way Eurostar ticket from Paris to London for £60.  I can vouch that we had no problem with luggage weight on the train and they'll stamp your passport on the way.

We were just talking about that today. Right now flights to dublin are around $200. And then Ryan Air is probably around $40 right now I think? Plus checked baggage which is not too expensive. My husband and I were talking about either driving or taking a train to France for a day trip (or even a weekend since we didn't have a proper honeymoon) just after I get there. That, or, I found a one way ticket to London stopping in Boston and Iceland for about $430. That would be worth the extra money for sure. But the other ones are around $1000  In which case I'll go for more hassle, thanks.

Do you know if channel hopping can cause any problems? Or is it completely fine? We're clearly not booking it yet, since I just mailed the application today. But I'd like to know my options before I start looking to book...

I don't think channel hopping can cause problems as long as you go through both immigration processes legally, though you might want to get someone else's opinion on that who knows more.

On flights:  I found out that flights to Dublin are so cheap because Aer lingus books flights on a one-way basis, so their one-way fares actually make sense and are around half of the round-trip fares.  Instead of flying them to Ireland you could fly Aer lingus one-way to Paris or another European airport, then take the Eurostar to the UK.  You might have to connect in Dublin, and it would still be a hassle, but it'd be about the same price as Dublin to the UK and you'd get the stamp.

Then a few airfare tip sites also suggest buying a roundtrip ticket and not using the second half.  That goes against certain airlines' terms and conditions, but depending on the airline and situation it's a possibility.  A roundtrip direct flight from NY to London is the same price as the one-way going through Boston and Iceland flight.