"Intended Travel Date" vs. Visa Dates vs.....????

[Trin1121]

Hi all,

My husband and I are trying to make preparations for our spousal visa application which we intend to submit this summer. However, we are becoming more and more confused the more we research issues surrounding dates for the application.

We understand that the visa application itself asks for "intended travel date to the UK". However, we see conflicting information and experiences regarding whether this 'intended travel date' is paid attention to or honored by UKVI authorities or not. We have also heard that some people have had their visa approved, but the dates on the vignette in their passport are either retroactive to date of application +90 days (therefore giving much less time!!), and/or UKVI *did* take notice of their expected date of travel, and issued the visa for THAT date +90 days.......really it just seems all over the place.

I have such a hard time believing that the officials at UKVI employ such a lackadaisical approach to people's visa effective dates. There surely must be some commonality in the way they handle this.

We have a house to sell, jobs to give notice to, and a ton of other stuff to get in order which we are very reluctant to start on until the visa is officially approved. We were ALSO hoping to take one of the October Cunard Transatlantic Eastbound cruises as our method of travel. Given all this, I would really appreciate it if anybody could weigh in on their personal experiences and/or what they understand to be the most common way UKVI handles these dates issues.

Thanks all!!

[Ticktack]

Hi all,

My husband and I are trying to make preparations for our spousal visa spouse of what? application which we intend to submit this summer. However, we are becoming more and more confused the more we research issues surrounding dates for the application.

We understand that the visa application itself asks for "intended travel date to the UK". However, we see conflicting information and experiences regarding whether this 'intended travel date' is paid attention to or honored by UKVI authorities or not. We have also heard that some people have had their visa approved, but the dates on the vignette in their passport are either retroactive to date of application +90 days (therefore giving much less time!!), and/or UKVI *did* take notice of their expected date of travel, and issued the visa for THAT date +90 days.......really it just seems all over the place.

I have such a hard time believing that the officials at UKVI employ such a lackadaisical approach to people's visa effective dates. There surely must be some commonality in the way they handle this.

We have a house to sell, jobs to give notice to, and a ton of other stuff to get in order which we are very reluctant to start on until the visa is officially approved. We were ALSO hoping to take one of the October Cunard Transatlantic Eastbound cruises as our method of travel. Given all this, I would really appreciate it if anybody could weigh in on their personal experiences and/or what they understand to be the most common way UKVI handles these dates issues.

Thanks all!!

Your flag shows US, so it would be useful if you said what your immigration status is here in the UK.

Different routes changes the advise to a certain degree.

[Trin1121]

Hi all,

My husband and I are trying to make preparations for our spousal visa spouse of what? application which we intend to submit this summer. However, we are becoming more and more confused the more we research issues surrounding dates for the application.

We understand that the visa application itself asks for "intended travel date to the UK". However, we see conflicting information and experiences regarding whether this 'intended travel date' is paid attention to or honored by UKVI authorities or not. We have also heard that some people have had their visa approved, but the dates on the vignette in their passport are either retroactive to date of application +90 days (therefore giving much less time!!), and/or UKVI *did* take notice of their expected date of travel, and issued the visa for THAT date +90 days.......really it just seems all over the place.

I have such a hard time believing that the officials at UKVI employ such a lackadaisical approach to people's visa effective dates. There surely must be some commonality in the way they handle this.

We have a house to sell, jobs to give notice to, and a ton of other stuff to get in order which we are very reluctant to start on until the visa is officially approved. We were ALSO hoping to take one of the October Cunard Transatlantic Eastbound cruises as our method of travel. Given all this, I would really appreciate it if anybody could weigh in on their personal experiences and/or what they understand to be the most common way UKVI handles these dates issues.

Thanks all!!

Your flag shows US, so it would be useful if you said what your immigration status is here in the UK.

Different routes changes the advise to a certain degree.

Apologies - maybe I should have been clearer. I am a UK citizen. I was born in the UK and lives there for half my life before I moved to the US. My husband is a US citizen, and we currently live in the US. We are planning on applying for his spousal visa and moving to the UK later this year.

[Ticktack]

Hi all,

My husband and I are trying to make preparations for our spousal visa application which we intend to submit this summer. However, we are becoming more and more confused the more we research issues surrounding dates for the application.

We understand that the visa application itself asks for "intended travel date to the UK". However, we see conflicting information and experiences regarding whether this 'intended travel date' is paid attention to or honored by UKVI authorities or not. We have also heard that some people have had their visa approved, but the dates on the vignette in their passport are either retroactive to date of application +90 days (therefore giving much less time!!), and/or UKVI *did* take notice of their expected date of travel, and issued the visa for THAT date +90 days.......really it just seems all over the place. So it's a tricky one. There has to be a line in the sand on how far your entry to the UK can be extended. For any spouse to be granted, your spouse would need a TB test. That TB test needs to be valid (for 6 months) for the application and during entry into the UK. Spouse visa applications could take up to 3 months to process. He would then be given 90 days to enter the UK. I guess this is centred along the validity period and it retains the integrity of the test done. But I know Americans don't need this test, hence the tricky nature of it.

I have such a hard time believing that the officials at UKVI employ such a lackadaisical approach to people's visa effective dates. There surely must be some commonality in the way they handle this.

We have a house to sell, jobs to give notice to, and a ton of other stuff to get in order which we are very reluctant to start on until the visa is officially approved. We were ALSO hoping to take one of the October Cunard Transatlantic Eastbound cruises as our method of travel. Given all this, I would really appreciate it if anybody could weigh in on their personal experiences and/or what they understand to be the most common way UKVI handles these dates issues.

Thanks all!!

Moving countries is always a daunting task. What you could do is. Get the visa, come to the UK (thereby activating it). Once you've entered, you can exit again, go back to the US, sort out all you need to do. Take your time 2-6 months, it doesn't matter. No one's counting for spouse visas. Then you can re-enter the UK on your Transatlantic cruise in style.

Everyone's happy.

[Trin1121]

So it's a tricky one. There has to be a line in the sand on how far your entry to the UK can be extended. For any spouse to be granted, your spouse would need a TB test. That TB test needs to be valid (for 6 months) for the application and during entry into the UK. Spouse visa applications could take up to 3 months to process. He would then be given 90 days to enter the UK. I guess this is centred along the validity period and it retains the integrity of the test done. But I know Americans don't need this test, hence the tricky nature of it.

Thanks all!!

Moving countries is always a daunting task. What you could do is. Get the visa, come to the UK (thereby activating it). Once you've entered, you can exit again, go back to the US, sort out all you need to do. Take your time 2-6 months, it doesn't matter. No one's counting for spouse visas. Then you can re-enter the UK on your Transatlantic cruise in style.

Everyone's happy.

OK lol, this went somewhere I wasn't expecting. You mention a TB test? The UKVI's own website states that TB tests are NOT required for applicants from the United States (at https://www.gov.uk/tb-test-visa). Am I misunderstanding that?

Also, there's no way we could financially or physically swing the "enter-activate visa-leave-conclude business in US-enter-again" treadmill. Not going to happen. Thanks for the advice but I think we will just plan on our one cruise date and if it doesn't work out we'll just fly.

[Ticktack]

But I know Americans don't need this test, hence the tricky nature of it.

[Trin1121]

But I know Americans don't need this test, hence the tricky nature of it.

OK I'm confused LOL. The tricky nature of what? Why did you even bring up the TB test? Are you just using that as the reasoning as to WHY the three-month window of entry permission is not any longer? Because it has to accommodate those who DO need TB tests to enter?

[Ticktack]

But I know Americans don't need this test, hence the tricky nature of it.

OK I'm confused LOL. The tricky nature of what? Why did you even bring up the TB test? Are you just using that as the reasoning as to WHY the three-month window of entry permission is not any longer? Because it has to accommodate those who DO need TB tests to enter?

You started with what others are going though and what you've been seeing!

However, we see conflicting information and experiences regarding whether this 'intended travel date' is paid attention to or honored by UKVI authorities or not. We have also heard that some people have had their visa approved, but the dates on the vignette in their passport are either retroactive to date of application +90 days (therefore giving much less time!!), and/or UKVI *did* take notice of their expected date of travel, and issued the visa for THAT date +90 days.......really it just seems all over the place.

I'm trying to explain it away.

But all that doesn't matter, give your intended arrival date a go, and keep everything crossed.