Visa Day

I went to do my UK Visa application earlier today. I left home about 6:15 in the morning, got to Wisma MCA building at about 35 minutes later. When I got there, there were already quite a number of people already waiting for the office to open at 8. There has got to be roughly about 50 people or so. The counter opened at 8, I got number 218, while Ameenah was just before me, thus began our long wait….

People were sorted out, those who made an appointment were asked to sit on one side, while those who didn’t on the other. For us who came without an appointment, the queue began at number 161.

1^st stage

This is our main event. Met Asyiq, Ikmal Haqemi (SAS friend), Adam Wan, Saiful, Amirul, Alya, Sara Salim as well a few new friends. While waiting, Ameenah challenged me in a game of UNO in my Iphone. To my surprise, I lost to her four games in a row! She even made me call her a pro! Talked to Adam about his newly gotten scholarship from MAHB, Lilian even Googled about his scholarship just out of curiosity, besides she was jobless anyway. Sat with Asyiq, and he told me about how he’s planning for his accommodation.

For those who made an appointment, this is the part when they gain the upper hand; they need not to wait for their number to be called like us. All they had to do was to approach the VFS people and let them know that you’ve arrived for your-what-o’clock appointment, then they’ll call your names and sort your documents accordingly, so it is a bit faster.

My number was called forth only when the clock began to approach noon. The lady officer went through my documents, arranging them in order, took out those that were unnecessary and stapled them together. Took her 5 minutes, afterwards I was asked to go up to the 19^th floor to submit my application.

2^nd stage

The 2^nd stage took place in the 19^th floor. I was told to leave my bag outside, as we’re only allowed to take the needed documents into the office. The security is very tight; they’ll need to flash their card in order for you to be let in. Maybe because it involves people’s identities, so yeah got to be careful with that since you can do a lot of things with someone else’ identity these days.

Again they gave me a number; this time I got number 205. By the time I sat down, the current number being summoned was 170 something. Saw Sheng Ling, Tze Ni, David, Win Sern, Amirul and Acab inside of the office, but they surely they were way in front of me in queue.

For this stage, the waiting time was way much shorter than the previous one. Besides, I personally won’t mind if they let me wait longer since they have air-con here. Hehe. Oh, and this is where you’re asked to just simply go up to the counter and give them all of your already checked documents. Then they’ll ask whether you’d want to track your Visa progress via SMS or online and whether you’re going to pick it up in-person or you want them to courier it to your place (extra charge applies, of course, it’s business).

Final stage

Yet again, I had to wait for this. The time interval between my stage 2 and the final stage was roughly an hour or a bit less. Here was where they took my photo again, asked me my surname and DOB, maybe as challenge questions for security purposes. Finally after putting my fingers on the scanning machine and gave me the receipt, I was done for the day!

I finished my Visa at 1:35pm then I waited for Ameenah to finish hers. We left Wisma MCA at 3. Overall, I spent half of my day just to submit my Visa application, but it was worth it, thankfully. Perhaps the long queue of people was because they all wanted to settle the matter now so that they can head back home this weekend.

Note to Sabrina and all those who want to go to UK soon: Book an appointment VERY EARLY (eg: a week or two before the date), if your CAS is not yet ready, then pray that you’ll get it just in time for the appointment. Crucial especially when your flight is a few weeks away. Also ensure that you've completed and printed out your online application here, as well as the dreadfully confusing appendix 8 together with all the supporting documents required.

I leave the rest to you…….