Waiting to be His Wife

I thought I'd share about my current status as a wife, now that I've been married for 6 months. (^__^)

It's no secret that Mr Hubby currently resides and work in the UK, and I am here in Malaysia - which basically makes this an LDM (long-distance marriage). It wasn't much of a sacrifice in the beginning since both of us have a mutual understanding that I have some work commitments to take care of, which meant that I can't join him in the UK a.s.a.p. But I've been commitment free for the past one month now, and this also means that I can finally join him in the UK for good! 

Gosh... this has been something that I've been waiting for - to be with him in person - for the past 3 years! (Yes. LDR sucks.) Now... to get over that minor speed bump called 'visa'. 

Now, under United Kingdom's visa rule, Mr Hubby currently holds a Tier 4 General Student Visa. (Why he is still classified as a student despite already working? God knows...) And in order for me to join him there, I need to apply for a Tier 4 Dependent Visa. Basically, this visa allows me to be in the UK piggybacking on Mr Hubby's visa AS LONG AS my application meets a few requirements. The UK Border Agency's website have some pretty extensive FAQ here.

Application for a UK visa from Malaysia needs to be made directly with the visa agency, VFS instead of the British Consulate. VFS website has been very useful in providing step-by-step guidelines on how to make an application IF you know exactly which visa you should be applying for. If (like me) you're not so sure, the UK Border Agency's website is still the best point of reference.

Once everything is in order, you can arrange for an appointment with VFS online OR you can just drop in to their office at Menara MCA (Jln Ampang). The difference is that, with an appointment, you can basically skip the waiting game but you can still make an application with/without a prior appointment.

In my experience, you can have the best application form and all the supporting documents in the world but that does not guarantee you to make an application on the day itself. As VFS is only an agency, they will go through your application and your original supporting documents with you and advice you whether you can or cannot make an application on the day itself. They are NOT in the position to give an opinion.

I had to go through VFS people 4 TIMES(!!) before I can submit my application. And within that 4 visits, 4 weeks has passed... the visa fees had been revised upwards... Mr Hubby had to courier 3 sets of documents to me on 3 separate occasions because every time I go and see the VFS people, they'd ask for 3 different documents. 

Yes. It is very frustrating indeed especially when I've been making plans to join Mr Hubby sooner rather than later. And every time I visit VFS, that plan kept postponing. But thank God, 4th times the charm and now it's just a matter of a waiting game.... waiting for my application to be approve within the next 5 to 15 days!!

Here's to hoping (and praying) that things will OK in the near future.