UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN, Embassy of the.
Address: 120 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Hill 1634 Taguig City Philippines
Tel. No.’s: Telephone+63 2 858 2200
Fax (Information): +63 2 858 2313
Fax (Visa): +63 2 858 2305
Fax (Management): +63 2 858 2237
Fax (Chancery): +63 2 858 2216
Email: ukinthephilippines@fco.gov.uk
Office Hours: Monday to Friday - 8:00am to 4:45pm
Ambassador: H.E. STEPHEN LILLIE
When to apply
You can apply for visa up to 3 months before your date of travel to the UK. We
strongly advise you not to confirm your travel arrangements until you have received
your visa.
Visa processing times in the Philippines
Service standards
We have service standards for processing UK visa applications in the Philippines. Our
standards say that we will process:
 90% of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98% within 6 weeks and
100% within 12 weeks of the application date; and
 95% of settlement applications within 12 weeks and 100% within 24 weeks of
the application date.
Please note we define on week as 5 working days.
If our visa processing service is experiencing delay, we will publish a news story on
this website to explain what is happening.
If we have taken more than 3 weeks (for non-settlement visas) or 3 months (for
settlement visas) to process your application, and we have not published a news story
to explain the delay, you can email the VFS call centre, who will forward your email to
us for reply.
We will not respond to your enquiry if you contact us before this time has elapsed.
Our recent performance
Our guide to visa processing times contains up-to-date information on the time taken
to process UK visa applications in every visa application centre, by visa category. We
update this information each month.
The processing time begins when our commercial partner VFS Global has received
your completed application form, application fee, passport and supporting documents,
and you have enrolled your biometric information. It ends when we have made a
decision on your application and your passport is available for collection.
You can use this information as a guide to how long it may take to process your
application, but we cannot guarantee that your application will be processed within
that time. This is because of the unique circumstances of each case.
Track your application
You can use the free track your application service from VFS Global to monitor the
progress of your visa application. Alternatively, VFS Global offers a SMS service (fee
payable) which sends you a message at various stages of the visa application
process informing you the status of your application and when your passport is ready
for collection. You can find more information on the VFS Global in the Philippines.
You can find more information on the VFS Global in the Philippines Website.
Before you apply
Before you apply, you must:
 Prepare the supporting documents that you will need;
 Be ready to enrol your fingerprints and photograph (known as biometric
information) at out visa application centre in Manila and
 Be able to pay the visa application fee. The visa application fees pages explain
how much your visa application will cost
How to apply
To apply for a visa, you must:
 Complete and submit a visa application form; and
 Visit our visa application centre in Manila.
You need to complete and submit the application form online
You will need to print out and sign your completed form. If you do not have access to
a printer when you apply, you will be able to log in print out the form later.
You can find the online application form under ‘Do it online’ on our website.
When you have completed your online application, you will receive an email message
containing your application number (also known as a ‘GWF reference’). Please make
a note on this number.
Paying your visa application fee
You can pay your visa application fee in any of the following ways:
 By cash only over the counter at the Union Bank Pasong Tamo Branch. You
will need to bring a photocopy of your passport date page when you pay the
fee. Than bank receipt will only be valid for 10 working days from the date of
payment and you must submit your visa application within this time.
The bank’s address is:
Union Bank
Ground Floor
Kingswood Arcade Vito Cruz Ext. corner Pasong Tamo, Makati City
 By cash only over the counter at any other branch of the Union Bank. There is
a service charge of Php 150 per visa application. You will need to bring a
photocopy of your passport date page when you pay the fee. The bank receipt
will only be valid for 10 working days from the date of payment and you must
submit your visa application with this time.
 By manager’s cheque obtained from any bank registered in the Philippines.
Cheques should be made payable to the British Embassy. Only managers’
cheques with the correct fee and payable to British Embassy will be accepted.
There is a bank charge when you purchase a manager’s cheque which varies
from bank to bank. You should ensure that you obtain a receipt.
The visa application centre
To complete the application process, you must book and attend an appointment at the
visa application centre in Manila.
You can find more information on the Booking an appointment page.
GUIDE TO SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
These documents are important because they provide information about your
personal circumstances in the country in which you are applying.
 A current and valid travel document or passport
 One passport sized colour photograph
 Evidence of your permission to be in the country where you are applying, if
your not a national of that country
 Previous passports
 Evidence of your marital status
 Evidence of your current employment or studies
Information about your finances and employment
You may submit any of the following financial documents. You should consider
including evidence of your total monthly income from all sources, for example
employment, friend, family, personal savings or property. This will help us assess
your circumstances in your own country and will provide us with evidence of hjow
your trip is to be funded. You should consider providing this information even if
someone else is paying for your trip
- If someone else is paying for your trip then they should consider providing the
same information about their finances and employment.
- If you are providing documents from a joint account then please explain who
the other account holders are, and why you have permission to spend money
from the account.
- If your spouse or partner is employed then the Entry Clearance Officer also
finds it helpful to see evidence of their employment and financial details.
 Bank statements of bank books
 Bank letter or balance certificate
 Payslips
 Tax returns (business or personal)
 Business bank account statements
 Evidence of Income from property or land
Accommodation and Travel details
You may wish to submit the following documents to help show us your
accommodation and travel arrangements in the UK and on which date you intend to
leave the UK. We advise that you do not make any payments for accommodation,
travel and so on until you have received your visa.
 Hotel Booking confirmation
 Travel booking
 Travel agent confirmation of both
 Accommodation details with a supporting letter from the occupant confirming
that you are able to stay there
Information about your visit to the UK
Depending on the reason for your visit, you may wish to provide some of the following
documents to help to show us what you plan to do while you are in the UK
In some locations you can only apply by making an online application. You should
check on out supported countries page to see if you have to or if you are able to make
an online application. If you make an online application you must also print off the
application form and submit it with any supporting documents you have chosen to
submit.
General Visitor / Tourist
 Completed Visa application form
o If your country does not support online applications you must complete
and submit a VAF1A
 A planned itinerary, if you have one
o Bookings or tickets for any excursions, trips and outing
o Email conversations about any excursions, trips and outing
o Travel agent booking
 Supporting letter from your friend or sponsor in the UK
o Bio data pages from their passports
o Valid visa or immigration stamp from their passport
o Home office letter confirming permission to stay in the UK