My son, Girish, is working in London and he wanted us to visit him. We had visited him twice in London.
I was planning to visit London with my wife in June, 2011. We had already obtained passports well in advance. But due to some domestic situation, it was not possible for us to travel together immediately. She desperately wanted to meet her son and daughter in law. Earlier she never travelled alone even in Pune buses, forget travelling Pune – Mumbai. As she was eager to meet son ( in London) and very very excited. we decided to send my wife alone.

In normal circumstances, she never would have agreed to travel alone in Pune or Mumbai, she agreed to go to London alone. My son played vital role preparing her mind set.
Now we had to make travel plan. First and important thing was UK VISA.
My son gave me list of documents required for visa and also I visited http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/India/
Know your visa type
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa to check if you need uk visa.

1. Indian Passport
2. What you are coming to UK to do? Family visit Visa
3. To visit family member and sight seeing
4. Up to 6 months
5. Fees GBP 83/- ( In INR Currency )
6. Can not work or carry out business
7. During our first visit my son had Tier 1 Visa and second visit Permanent Residency Permit
8. We are his parents

Eligibility

You must prove that you:
     a. are 18 or over
     b. are visiting the UK for less than 6 months
     c. will leave the UK at the end of your visit
          A. have enough money to support yourself without working or help from public funds, or that         relatives and friends can support and house you
          B. can pay for your return or onward journey
          C. are not in transit to a country outside the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands

We had to submit following documents:

You must provide the original plus a photocopy of every document you provide.

1. Passports
2. Passport sized colour Photographs 2-nos
3. Last 6 months Bank Statements – Pension A/C
4. Last 6 months Bank Statements – S/B A/C ( My wife is house wife. )
5. Term Deposit Certificates.
6. My flat agreement, original.
7. Income Tax Returns acknowledgement.
8. My son’s ( London ) salary slips
9. Son’s Dividend slips
10. Son’s Savings and Business A/Cs bank statements
11. First visit-Rental Agreement and for second visit council tax receipt, water bill and energy bill
12. Son’s passport photocopy all pages
13. Son’s Permanent Residency Permit photocopy
14. Letter of invitation from my son.
15. My marriage certificate.( We did not have marriage certificate. While obtaining Indian Passport we made notarized affidavit. We produced same thing.)

We applied online and booked appointment separately. We got appointments on different dates.
We took the printouts of application forms with us.
Both of us (I and my wife) went on first appointment date. VFS office allowed us together to enter the office. We submitted only one set of documents. Paid cash at counter inside. We paid some courier charges also.
It is better to pay online instead of cash at counter. You can save about INR350/- for each.
After Biometrics and verification and acceptance of documents, we received a receipt from VFS office.
VFS office was very very co-operative and friendly. I was hesitant to submit original documents. However both times, I had very good experience and got all my documents safely.

It is better to get one lyca mobile SIM at INR200/- from vendor who is available in VFS office. We can talk to India one pence per minute. At Heathrow, we can give missed call to local person who comes to receive. Off course we can talk local person, but rates may be 10 pence/per minute.

In about 2-3 weeks after appointment, we got all our documents with visa pasted on passports.
My wife was in London from June 2011 to Sept. 2011 (about 3 months). I was there from August 2011 to Nov. 2011(about 3 months) and both of us from Nov. 2013 to April 2014 (about 5 months)
In due course I would like to share our experiences in London.

Article by - Dattatray Suryawanshi [ Girish Suryawanshi's father]

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