The Visa Is Approved! - Sabbatical Is a Survival Game (8)
One of the biggest hurdles to spending a sabbatical or special research period abroad is obtaining a visa for the destination country. Despite a few setbacks, I organized my documents, filled in the necessary information on the UK Home Office website, went to the visa application center in Tsukiji, Tokyo, to submit my documents and passport, and had my photo and fingerprints taken. I had done what I needed to do.
I felt relieved that everything would be fine, but that was short-lived; there was still one more twist.
No, no, regarding my visa, I received an email from the UK Home Office on January 24th stating, "Your visa application has been successful; please collect your travel documents and visa documents from the application center." Since I had visited the visa application center in Tsukiji, Tokyo, on January 16th, only a little over a week had passed. It was going smoothly. I had already provided a Yu-Pack envelope for return shipping to the visa application center, so there was no problem.
The same email stated, "We no longer issue BRPs (Biometric Residence Permits). Please access your eVisa to check your status." I thought, "Huh?" and while notifying the person in charge at the University of Oxford that "I got my visa," I asked them about it via email. It seems the UK Home Office has been changing its visa system over the past few months, and from January 2025, the eVisa—a file inside the Home Office's computer—will be the actual visa.
When I got visas for India and China, the "visa" was something pasted firmly onto a page in my passport. In the case of the UK, what is pasted in the passport is just a document called a "short-term entry clearance visa" that says "you are allowed to enter," and I am supposed to enter the country within 90 days of the eVisa's validity period starting. Upon entry, an officer will make a decision after questioning (?) me, and the visa will officially become valid. It feels more complicated, and I don't really understand what the advantage is.
My visa process was effectively over. However, the visa for my family was the problem.
On February 11th, I received an email from Liverpool, UK. At that moment, I thought, "What business would they have from the birthplace of the Beatles?" For some reason, even though the email about my successful visa also came from Liverpool, I hadn't paid any attention to it. I had heard that the UK Home Office's visa adjudication department was in Manila, Philippines. I had heard from somewhere that passports were sent from the visa application center in Tsukiji, Tokyo, to Manila, where the "entry clearance visa" sticker was applied, and then returned, so I didn't connect Liverpool with the visa (1).
I froze when I read the content of the email.
"Please send the complete version of the translation of the birth certificate."
What? I thought I had already prepared the translation of the family register... Oh, I hadn't entrusted it to the visa application center!
When I visited the visa application center on February 4th, I had already finished my application, so I was not allowed to enter the center. Only my wife and three children, who were my dependents, went in to apply. At that time, there was some miscommunication during the document handover with my wife, and the translation of the family register was not handed over to the visa application center.
I panicked. And immediately, I replied to the email I received, attaching the translation of the family register. Would my wife and children's visas actually be approved?
Those two nights were anxious ones. However, quite unexpectedly, on February 13th, I received another email from Liverpool.
"Your visa application has been successful; please collect your travel documents and visa documents from the application center."
The visa acquisition for my family was also successful. Since they applied at the visa application center on February 4th, only nine days had passed. Considering I had forgotten to submit the translation of the family register, I think it went quite smoothly.
Both my passport and my family's passports were soon sent to our home via Yu-Pack.
Thus, although the official visa acquisition only happens after entering the UK, we managed to get that far. I had cleared a major hurdle in the survival game. However, this was just one "hurdle." The survival game continued.