I will make this as to the point as possible. I used standard process for my application, and did not book my flight in advance. THIS IS CRUCIAL. However, if you put the date of intended travel which should be well into the future (about a month), guess what day your visa will be valid starting? The day you put. YES, THEY DO ACCEPT USPS. I used overnight, and it was signed for. I was notified when it was in the process, and two weeks later, I got the email it was approved. It was next day mailed back to me, requiring signature.
-Buying Gold, and Silver will put you in front in the review process, but if you did the wrong kind of visa, you shot yourself in the foot. Double check with a professional that you are applying for the right one. You are worth that extra expense.
-DO NOT BOOK FLIGHT, BUT PUT THE DAY YOU PLAN ON BOOKING.
TIPS:
I applied for a visitor's visa from Canada, details are provided below:
They returned my wife's passport and supporting docs without processing, no decision has been made and the application was not even registered in their system. No refusal letter, no visa. Apparently, there was a technical mistake and they simply ignored the application.
-Be prepared for issues, and do this pretty much as soon as you are legally able, My visa type had to be three months prior to intended leave date I noted at most.
October 6: Decision was communicated via mail.
September 29: British Consulate in New York acknowledged receipt of documents.
Tier 2 application. Purchased priority service from VFS. Sent in the application by Next-day air. Received notification of receipt from the consulate the next day. Case was approved 3 days later. All in all, it was a good experience, I was surprised how fast it was. I'd advise getting the priority service. Also, make sure to be meticulous about providing all required application materials! Err on the side of caution, and include even more documentation than is necessary. Also, I carefully organized my documents and labelled them all with post-it notes so as to minimize the visa officer's work
-Bronze seems to not make much of a difference.
-Do not skimp on postage. Next day it to them. It will give you $100 insurance, and your passport is in there.
-Be ready for it to take every single one of those 15 days.
The application of regular visitor visa process was very smooth. Had biometric appointment on 8/28. Mailed out all the documents on 8/29 afternoon through UPS (Didn't purchase the service online just walked into the UPS store nearby). Got the email notice that the documents were received on 8/31. And got another email about application approval on 9/1. Got the passport back with visa printed through UPS on 9/5 (delivery was delayed for one day due to labor day weekend). Overall very simple and convenient procedure to get the visa.
I had a positive experience with the British Consulate in New York.
With any other consulate, that would be a simple question solved by exchanging a few kind e-mails and mailing the passport back for processing. Not in this case...
-Once again, book NOTHING until you get it back approved. You are not guaranteed being approved.
I don't care about the visa at this point (had to cancel our travel plans), but gravely insulted by the abysmal customer service, lack of empathy and any sort of help from the Customer Service. I will make sure this story goes as far as Antony Phillipson, British Consul General in New York, and amends are made to the consulate's customer service practices in the future.
September 28: Submitted documents and biometrics at VFS's office in Edmonton.
The customer service center is absolutely unhelpful, 6 weeks passed, and they don't care. Still "investigating" a case that takes about 5 minutes to crack. Apparently, the contact center has no direct communication to the visa service and can only toggle "escalation" check boxes in their system. And of course, they refuse to give a refund for an application that was never reviewed in the first place.
October 11: I received my passport.
British Consulate General New York is a US Embassy based in Manhattan New York, New York. British Consulate General New York is located at 845 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022, USA.
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