@gpcollett My brother attended London Consulate appointment yesterday November 29th I prepared the paperwork and the dates. The person he saw crossed the dates out and put newĀ dates we had 1st Jan and she changed it to 1st Feb. She told him the dateĀ sheĀ changed it to is more realistic.
Some details of the experience: We took a train from Southampton to Waterloo 7.33. Ā£69 return for both of us (we booked 10 days ago) We got a London Cab to 66 Wilson Street cost Ā£21 single.
We checked out the location: there were queues outside. We were early and went to a cafe in Paul Street (2 mins.Ā walk) for tea and toast. We went over our documents a final time here. (my brother is 72 and finds this kind of thing daunting) His appointment was 11.15 and they allowed him to wait in the queue at 11am not before. one guy there, sort of security was quite abrupt, rude i noticed sort of ordering peopleĀ around, he was a VFS employee assumedly and he was in plain clothes all blackĀ garments. As i walked away leaving my brother there I felt slightly anxious. I will add this was not solely for Portugal there were people there wanting visas for varying countries.
My brother said it was 11.25 when he was called through a scanner looking arch (that did not appear to scan) he sat down and an efficient woman went through the documents which were in sleeves numbered 1 to 11. Each sectionĀ had the required items written on the front. For example Passport: Required Valid passport. Norarised copy also enclosed. The lady told my brother the documents were extremely organised and easy for her to locate. I had written the Personal Statement which referred as a summary of other information contained in the documents. i recommend a summary of the financial detail for example he has 3 pensions and on one A4 page was a breakdown showing the total figure he will receive annually. As well as proof contained in that sleeve.
At 12.45 i had a call ftom him telling me that everything was done she told him all was good. she scanned all the documents. She kept the originals ( i read these get sent back in the post) He paid the fees a total of Ā£102. This fee included some options like courier service / assurance / SMS. He said he felt āchuffedā at the way it went and the angst he had felt was gone. She told him she refunded something which may be the original fee for an appointment we could not keep.
He came to meet me we had a drink and decided to walk through the famous streets of London back to Waterloo station which took us 45 minutes , where we took a fast train to Southampton airport Parkway. My husband picked us up and we were back home at 3pm.
We have to wait now. That was the experience.Ā I dont know what i had been expecting but i felt relieved. We did nt use an agency we did eveything ourselves. With the help of a tax representative that had taken George to the financas for his NIF. And she recommended a lawyer friend for notarising some documents. The total cost of everything isĀ under ā¬600. Yes there are times when an agent is the only solution we chose to go it alone.
