# Questions about tourist visa for a green card holder, do I have a chance?



## emimc (Mar 23, 2012)

Hi everyone! I'm new here. I'm so glad I found this place. I'm applying for a tourist visa for my honeymoon trip to UK and will be flying with my US citizen husband. We're planning to spend 5 days in London before flying to the next destination, Amsterdam. My US citizen husband won't need a visa for this but I'm a green card holder with Thai citizenship, so I still need to get a visa. 

A little background about me, I work part time as a waitress for about 20 hours a week and only make about $1,500 per month. I am mainly be supported by my husband who has his own accounting practice plus dividends from family business 4 times a year. We have several joint checking and savings accounts together. I don't know how much they usually want to see in order to consider issuing a short term visitor visa. So here's my list of documents I have sent. 

•	Visa application forms and Receipt from Biometrics appointment
•	Thai Passport with a copy
•	Original US Permanent Resident Green Card with a notarized copy 
•	Original marriage certificate with a copy
•	Trip itinerary with details of places I am planning to visit 
(I included not just the details for UK, but also details about the whole trip 9 cities 7 countries for 28 days)
•	Copy of plane and train tickets for each destinations for entire trip (all booked and paid for)
•	Copy of hotel bookings for the entire trip 
•	Letter of employment for my part time job
•	Copy of joint bank statements with my husband (approximately $60,000 in both checking and savings)
•	Letter of financial support from my husband saying he would responsible for all expenses in this trip
•	Copy of my husband’s personal business bank statements and business registration documents
•	Copy of my husband’s passport and most recent filed tax return
•	Copy of my husband’s family business stock certificates evidencing his ownership in the company
•	Statements from my husband’s retirement investment accounts ($ 60,000 approximately)
•	Copy of mortgage statements and primary residence appraisal (currently $100,000 in equity)

I know that UKBA suggested not paying for the ticket until the visa is issued. However, I had to apply for Schengen visa earlier and they required to see the evidence of a purchased plane tickets for the whole trip and since UK will be my first stop, I had no choice but to book the ticket. 

How difficult is it to get a tourist visa and how long should it take to get it? Are my supporting documents are strong enough? Also I have specified the date I intend to arrive in UK (May 11th, 2012), do they normally grant you an entry on the exact date you specify on the application? I just want to make sure they will not grant my entry later than May 11th since the plane ticket is already booked. 

Thank you in advance for your help.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

emimc said:


> Hi everyone! I'm new here. I'm so glad I found this place. I'm applying for a tourist visa for my honeymoon trip to UK and will be flying with my US citizen husband. We're planning to spend 5 days in London before flying to the next destination, Amsterdam. My US citizen husband won't need a visa for this but I'm a green card holder with Thai citizenship, so I still need to get a visa.
> 
> A little background about me, I work part time as a waitress for about 20 hours a week and only make about $1,500 per month. I am mainly be supported by my husband who has his own accounting practice plus dividends from family business 4 times a year. We have several joint checking and savings accounts together. I don't know how much they usually want to see in order to consider issuing a short term visitor visa. So here's my list of documents I have sent.
> 
> ...


With your details, you have little to worry about. Your supporting documents are more than adequate. I would be very surprised if they didn't issue you a visitor visa promptly. Current processing time is 4 days.
If you put 11th May as your date of travel, that will be the start date of your visa or 'valid from' date. I'd put 10th May to be safe. If your Schengen visa is already in your passport, as you seem to imply, then that will help your application.


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## emimc (Mar 23, 2012)

Joppa said:


> With your details, you have little to worry about. Your supporting documents are more than adequate. I would be very surprised if they didn't issue you a visitor visa promptly. Current processing time is 4 days.
> If you put 11th May as your date of travel, that will be the start date of your visa or 'valid from' date. I'd put 10th May to be safe. If your Schengen visa is already in your passport, as you seem to imply, then that will help your application.


Thank you so much Joppa! I already submitted my application with the date of May 11th as my travel date though. I thought about putting May 10th but my plane ticket indicates my arrival date to London on May 11th, so I was worried that putting May 10th on the application might create conflicts, so I kept it that way.. hopefully it is ok. And yes I do have my brand new Schengen visa in my passport granted my visit to Schengen area from May 10th - June 20th, 2012 :clap2:

UKBA sent me an email last Friday stating that they have received my package and it was in preparation for consideration by the officer. They said I would get another email once my package reaches the reviewing process by officer .. haven't heard anything from them since then. How long should I wait before start contacting them for application status?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

emimc said:


> Thank you so much Joppa! I already submitted my application with the date of May 11th as my travel date though. I thought about putting May 10th but my plane ticket indicates my arrival date to London on May 11th, so I was worried that putting May 10th on the application might create conflicts, so I kept it that way.. hopefully it is ok. And yes I do have my brand new Schengen visa in my passport granted my visit to Schengen area from May 10th - June 20th, 2012 :clap2:
> 
> UKBA sent me an email last Friday stating that they have received my package and it was in preparation for consideration by the officer. They said I would get another email once my package reaches the reviewing process by officer .. haven't heard anything from them since then. How long should I wait before start contacting them for application status?


You can't until weeks later but you should hear from them a lot sooner than that, maybe by the end of this week.


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## emimc (Mar 23, 2012)

Joppa said:


> You can't until weeks later but you should hear from them a lot sooner than that, maybe by the end of this week.


Thank you Joppa. You're absolutely right. I got my visa in the mail today. Thanks again, I really appreciate your help!


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