UK, US, Schengen visa confusion, please help

[shamar]

Dear all,

I am in a very confused state to plan my Visa application for EU and US visit from India.

Scene: I am an indian national and want to visit my son in UK then travel to schengen region from Uk for a couple of weeks, return back to UK and stay for a while there & then travel to US to visit my daughter for 4 months and return back to India after that.

The problem i am facing in planning my and my wife's visa is as below, kindly address.

* Which Visa should i apply first (US, UK, Schengen), Visiting my daughter in US is the most important thing, but can't visit her before last week september
* Once Uk visa is granted when will the 6 months period be valid from? Is it from the date of issuing or from the date of landing into UK? Same question for US too; as i can't apply for US visa from UK and if i apply from India i may not be left with enough time of 4 months to stay in US as most of this time will be spent in UK and schengen region.
* Will the UK visa granted be multiple entry as i will first go to Uk then to EU back to UK and then to US
* Will the schengen visa granted be multiple entries as i will be visiting France twice.
* is there any rule that i should have atleast 3 months Uk visa left after the last day of my tour to EU (this is important as i have to accordingly apply for UK visa and book my tour)
* Please provide a format for cover letter and sponsorship letters to be supplied to respective consulates.
* How should my wife's application be drafted so as to satisfy visa issuing authority that she can survive without any support as she never had any income but is dependant on me and her son or daughter.
* Should i have my EU trip itenary sorted out befor applying to schengeen visa as i were to plan this once i reached UK in July.

Kindly advise how to go about this. Greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I don't know anything about US visas.

The UK allows an applicant to post date their visa for up to three months (check UKBA for up to date information).

The Schengen countries will expect you to apply in your country of residence and submit travel plans, etc.