The UK Tourist Visa is a requirement before a Filipino can enter the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland) and its territories.
The UK Visa that you can get may allow you to stay in the UK for a maximum of 6 months which you can use for a holiday, business trip, transit, or study a 6 months short course.
You can apply for your standard visitor visa 3 months prior to your planned travel schedule. The standard UK visa fee is 100 pound sterling or 6782.42 pesos per person. This is applicable if the exchange rate is 1 pound sterling equivalent to 67.82 Philippine pesos.
In this article, I will show you the steps on how I apply online for my UK tourist Visa with multiple-entry and 6 months validity. You will also know in this post the required documents that I upload online. Moreover, you will see here the actual sticker of my UK visa.
Step 1: Select your Visa Type and Visa Application Center
a. Go to https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa to select your visa type.
There are different visa types you can choose. As a Filipino tourist who plans to tour around the UK, you need to select between Transit or Visit Visa in the choices. Then hit the green“Next” button. Since you want to tour around the UK then you have to select Visit Visa.
b. On the next, page you will be asked to select the country to provide your biometrics
These are your photographs and fingerprints. In the given space, type “Philippines” as your location then hit the green “Next” button.
c. Identify your preferred Visa Application Center branch in the Philippines
UK has an official commercial partner in the Philippines which is VFS Global. For the UK Visa application, the aforementioned website will redirect you to VFS Global’s two branches which are located in Makati Metro Manila, and Cebu City.
If you are in Luzon, your option is to visit the VFS Global Makati branch, whereas if you are from Visayas or Mindanao, your option is to visit the Cebu branch.
Step 2: Start your UK Visa Application
a. Register your Email Address and create a password
In the given space, input your valid email address and create at least 10 characters long password. The latter must contain an upper case letter, a lower case letter, a symbol, and a number.
Make sure that you can access your email anytime because the UK visa immigration service will send a link to your email which you need to access every time you will sign in to your application.
b. Input your personal details in the given space which include but are not limited to the following:
- First name and middle name (together in one box)
- Surname
- Contact details
- Gender
- Relationship / civil status
- Home Address, Town/City, Province / Region / State
- Postal Code (if applicable)
- Country: Philippines
c. Upload your Supporting Documents
The documents that you will upload depend on what is requested of you by the UK.gov visa and immigration website. Moreover, this also depends on the information that you encode on your online application form. You can upload them either in JPEG or PDF format.
There are 3 types of documents that you need to upload to the visas-immigration.service.gov.uk website.
The first is the “Mandatory Document” which is your Philippine Passport. The latter should be valid, in good condition, and have at least one blank page.
The second is your “Other Documents” which the website strongly recommends that you provide along with your application. This depends on what is requested of you by the website.
The third is your “Other Supporting Documents” which you think are necessary to support your UK visa application.
To give you an idea here are the documents that I upload to the website during my UK visa application:
Mandatory Document
- Philippine Passport
Other Document for Main Applicant
- Evidence of Funds which is my bank statements
- Employment Certificate from my employer
For the secondary applicant which is your family member (if they will travel with you and you will sponsor them)
- Evidence of Support, for example, a bank statement
- Evidence of Relationship, for example, a marriage certificate
- Evidence that your sponsor is not, or will not be, in breach of UK Immigration laws at the time of your visit, for example, a certificate of employment.
Other Supporting Documents
- Hotel Reservation in London
- 3 consecutive months’ payslip
Note: Bring all the original copies of the documents as well as photocopies. All your documents must be in English, and the passport that you will provide must be original. If you will bring a document in Tagalog language, it must be certified.
d. Declaration form
Basically, signing the declaration mean that the information you provide and the documents that you upload to the UK.gov visa and immigration website are accurate and genuine to the best of your knowledge. You have to sign the form in front of the VFS staff when you visit VFS Global Philippines office.
Step 3: Pay the Visa Fee Online
For a standard UK visitor visa, the fee is 100 pounds or equivalent to 6782.42 pesos per person depending on the currency exchange rate.
Payment is done online. You can pay using your credit card/debit card (Visa or Mastercard). Once done, you will receive a reference number that starts with GWF.
You will use it to track your visa application. You also will use this reference number to collect your Philippine passport with the attached UK visa sticker on it.
Step 4: Book an appointment with VFS Global for Biometrics Collection
Once done with step 3, the website will redirect you to the VFS Global Philippines website to book an appointment online. Afterward, select your appointment date.
Once you are at the VFS Office, their staff will capture your photo and your fingerprint. They will also verify the documents that you upload to the “UK Visas and Immigration website”. So, bring the original copy of all the documents that you have uploaded to your account. You will also have to leave your passport with them.
When everything is done. The next thing you need to do is wait for the UK’s decision about your visa application.
The waiting time for the decision for the visa can take between 3 weeks to up to 6 months. The counting starts from the time you visit VFS. In our case, we got our visa in a matter of 2 weeks.
Step 5: Collect your Passport from VFS Global Philippines
Alright, you will receive an email or text message from VFS Global Philippines regarding updates about your UK visa application. Also, you will get an email when the decision is already made about your visa application, and when to collect your passport in VFS Global.
Here is my Philippine Passport with the attached UK Visa sticker on it:
What are the Requirements for UK Visa Application for Filipinos?
Properly filled out online application form, original and photocopy of your valid Philippine Passport and your supporting documents.
The other requirements will depend on the information that you encode in your application.
How to Apply for UK Visitor Visa for Family Members in the Philippines?
If a member of your family such as your parents, spouse, or children will travel with you to the UK. Each of them must apply for a UK visa and pay the visa application fee. They also need to go to the visa application center for biometrics collection. But don’t worry because you can apply on their behalf if they cannot do it on their own.
Where are the Application Centers of VFS Global in the Philippines for the UK Visa?
There are two visa application centers. The first center is located in Makati at Chino Roces Avenue Extension, and the second center is located in Cebu in Samar Loop corner Cardinal Rosales Avenue, Cebu Business Park, Cebu City.
Note: These branches are for UK Visa. If you are applying for a visa bound to a different country, the latter’s respective immigration website may redirect you to other branches of VFS in the Philippines.
What to Wear during your Biometrics Collection at VFS Global
For male applicants wear a polo or polo shirt, jeans, and closed shoes. For the female applicants, wear a blouse with a collar, jeans, and closed shoes.
What to bring during your appointment at VFS
- Printout of your appointment confirmation letter showing the details of your appointment
- Valid Philippine Passport with 1 blank page on both sides
- Printout of your checklist coming from the Gov.UK website
- Original and Photocopy of your supporting documents (the one in the checklist)
Note: this depends on what is asked of you. To give you an idea about the checklist, here is mine:
Can I cancel my UK Visa Application?
Yes, as long as you haven’t provided your biometrics to UK’s commercial partner in your country. To cancel your application, sign in to your account from the email that UK.gov has sent to you. Go to Section 6 which is the “Further Action” and cancel your application.
Conclusion
Getting a UK visitor visa from the Philippines is straightforward because the filling out of the application form is done online. The difficult and time-consuming part is the collection of your supporting documents and visiting the visa application centers for your biometrics collection.
It would take you a minimum of two weeks to gather all the documents. For example, getting an employment certificate from your employers, and bank statements for your evidence of funds can take you 3 to 5 days.
Furthermore, we can all agree that Not every visa applicant is near Makati or Cebu. So you can not just go to these places on the day of your appointment because you will be late. Most often you need to book a hotel room near these two offices a day prior to your appointment schedule. What I am telling you is to carefully plan your UK Visa Application ahead of time.
