# What date did you get on your visa to enter the UK?



## ddang (Jun 21, 2012)

Hey guys, just wondering how far in advance you put your travel dates on your visa application and when you received your visa what date they actually gave you to enter the UK?

I put on my application 6 weeks from date I applied but I'm hoping to get to my husband sooner when I hopefully receive my visa!


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

ddang said:


> Hey guys, just wondering how far in advance you put your travel dates on your visa application and when you received your visa what date they actually gave you to enter the UK?
> 
> I put on my application 6 weeks from date I applied but I'm hoping to get to my husband sooner when I hopefully receive my visa!


Normally, provided your travel date is within 3 months of application, that's the date they will put on your visa as 'valid from'. Sometimes for unknown reasons, they do date the visa from the date of issue, ignoring your travel date.

Now, if your application is successful, then chances are your visa will be valid from your intended travel date. If your visa is issued sooner than you expected and you want to leave for UK before the 'valid from' date, you are out of luck, as you cannot enter UK as per your visa before the start date and UKBA won't reissue your visa because they've done nothing wrong. You may be able to enter as a visitor first, but then you have to leave UK and re-enter on or after the 'valid from' date, as it's the only way your settlement visa can be activated.


----------



## Cael (Apr 23, 2012)

The date given to me is 6 days before my intended travel date. Thankfully it's close.


----------



## DParmar (Sep 21, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Normally, provided your travel date is within 3 months of application, that's the date they will put on your visa as 'valid from'. Sometimes for unknown reasons, they do date the visa from the date of issue, ignoring your travel date.
> 
> Now, if your application is successful, then chances are your visa will be valid from your intended travel date. If your visa is issued sooner than you expected and you want to leave for UK before the 'valid from' date, you are out of luck, as you cannot enter UK as per your visa before the start date and UKBA won't reissue your visa because they've done nothing wrong. You may be able to enter as a visitor first, but then you have to leave UK and re-enter on or after the 'valid from' date, as it's the only way your settlement visa can be activated.


Hi Joppa,

Quick question re. the start date. I just want to verify the date format my visa would be in? I would expect it to be in day/month/year? My Visa start date is listed as 02/04/13, is this April 2, 2013? The only reason I question this is because it was issued in NY, so I'm unsure of what date format it is in, American or British? 

Also this would make my visa valid for 33 months, is that correct? 

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Bridge1101 (Aug 29, 2012)

DParmar said:


> Hi Joppa,
> 
> Quick question re. the start date. I just want to verify the date format my visa would be in? I would expect it to be in day/month/year? My Visa start date is listed as 02/04/13, is this April 2, 2013? The only reason I question this is because it was issued in NY, so I'm unsure of what date format it is in, American or British?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


will be in british format day/month/year.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

DParmar said:


> Hi Joppa,
> 
> Quick question re. the start date. I just want to verify the date format my visa would be in? I would expect it to be in day/month/year? My Visa start date is listed as 02/04/13, is this April 2, 2013? The only reason I question this is because it was issued in NY, so I'm unsure of what date format it is in, American or British?


It's always in UK format of day/month/year.


----------



## DParmar (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks guys, I know it seems like a silly q, but can never be too sure. Cheers


----------



## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Normally, provided your travel date is within 3 months of application, that's the date they will put on your visa as 'valid from'. *Sometimes for unknown reasons, they do date the visa from the date of issue, ignoring your travel date.*
> 
> Now, if your application is successful, then chances are your visa will be valid from your intended travel date. If your visa is issued sooner than you expected and you want to leave for UK before the 'valid from' date, you are out of luck, as you cannot enter UK as per your visa before the start date and UKBA won't reissue your visa because they've done nothing wrong. You may be able to enter as a visitor first, but then you have to leave UK and re-enter on or after the 'valid from' date, as it's the only way your settlement visa can be activated.


They did that to me... I applied on July 4th, had biometrics on the 5th and they received the application on July 6 and put down for an October 1st travel date... I had always wanted to spend Canadian Thanksgiving with my Dad's family in October (1st Sunday of the month), so I figured that asking for a visa start date of a few days before that weekend that was also within the 3 month window of July 8th (the last day of the "old rules" eligibility) would allow me to stay for that last holiday while accounting for any possible emergency situations that might require me to get to London before that weekend and maximising the post-wedding window of time I had to get a PEO appointment (you can be sure that I counted my dates several times over on lots of occasions just to be sure that I wasn't going to screw myself over).

I received the approval email on July 25 (Wednesday) and had it in my hands just before 11am Pacific Daylight Time on the 27th.

When I looked at the vignette in my passport, I noticed a "Valid From" date on July 24th!!    

Needless to say, I was rather choked... I was positive that I indicated a October 1st proposed travel date and wasn't in any position to be able to leave the next weekend (my then fiance was in town on a visit and would have loved to have taken me home with him) as I had a few financial responsibilities (car payments, mainly) to take care of before I left Canada, yet here was the visa in my passport with a start date of 3 days previous.

Whilst I complained here a few times about effectively being cheated out of almost half of the time value of the visa, I didn't take the issue up with the UKBA... I was just happy that they granted my visa and that said visa was one of the last pre-July 9's that they issued. The wedding went off without a hitch (it was actually SUNNY in London on November 3rd after having been overcast and rainy for most of the previous week) and Ed and I went for our "Solihull Honeymoon" (at the Holliday Inn in Solihull <10 minute walk from the PEO office) on the following Monday to attend my 9am PEO appointment on the Tuesday morning.


----------



## teuchter (Dec 12, 2011)

Joppa said:


> Normally, provided your travel date is within 3 months of application, that's the date they will put on your visa as 'valid from'. *Sometimes for unknown reasons, they do date the visa from the date of issue, ignoring your travel date.*


That's what they did with us: we applied on 19th December, with a stated intended travel date of 28th February. Our visa was however issued with 23rd December as the 'valid from' date. 

teuchter


----------

