Thought I would follow up on the end product which I posted earlier in this thread (below is a copy of that post)

I went to the Jains Community Centre on Friday the 15th Oct for visas
I have the visas in my hands today Thursday the 21st Oct.

That has to be classed as a result.

Wow
I normally use the online application in it's entirety but I thought I would fill out the forms and fill in by hand at the Jain community centre in Manchester. Arrived at about 11:30 and the room already had quite a few people in. A poster on the wall gave instructions on what to do if you had an appointment or if you have just turned up with forms filled in by hand. The counter was on 00 at this point and our number was 20!

Several people came and went that had appointments and then eventually the counter started and by 15:00 we were sat in the chair being asked to sign the form again to check the signature was OK. To be honest it was touch and go and she was not keen even after my second attempt. I sort of mentioned that it is very difficult to fit my natural signature on the UK passport due to it's small space allowance so it would always be difficult to replicate my signature perfectly. It was not looking good at this point as she explained that the signature was a very vital piece of the security side of things......she reluctantly sadi OK...phew! My wife also had to sign a second time but she seemed more happy with this. I wonder if it was because we had pre signed the form prior to going in to the room?

Anyway everything else was plain sailing. We were given a tracking number and paid our £78.10 fee for the two of us. We took our SDE envelope that we had pre-paid and saved £2 or so rather than using their own courier service that cost £7 ish. The envelope was £5 ish.

We were aware of the place closing at 14:30 and was relieved to hear that anybody that was in the building before close time would be dealt with no matter how long they had to stay open. You could not get a ticket after 14:30.

The other thing that was amazing was watching people behave like children and spoiled brats. It really was quite sad watching grown men and women trying to do anything they could to jump the queue, get the visa sooner than others, or telling people they were disgusted, mortified, incensed with there treatment. Who do people think they are when using all these phrases to try and add gravitas to their obvious stupidity?

The only thing I was unsure of was now that they have accepted the forms at VFS does that mean they will not question anything now or could they still say the signature is not good? Does anybody know this?

All in all once we new that we would be seen no matter what the time we were happy and relaxed even though it was quite a wait.

Lot's had problems as they never accepted cash. People filled in forms wrong or not enough info and one guy turned up with his forms wet through with the ink all smudged!!

Well done CMJ see you soon...

Did my application the old fashioned way, post and postal orders. Received at Hayes on 5 October, back with me today.

Breathing a sigh of relief as I need my passport for another holiday on 8 November!

I know that good feeling Liz when you get it back so now its just wait to the day you gooooooo time colleen

Does anybody have the telephone number for Jiam Community Centre Manchester I have looked everywhere and cannot find it

Hi Bluemoon

http://jainsamajmanchester.org/index.php

Contact page gives you numbers of various people but if you want to contact VFS about visas then you have to contact VFS on 0905 757 0045 or email on info.Inuk@vfshelpline.com

I hope this helps.

PS
Did you notice my experience of the Jain Community centre on the last pages? In the end very fast indeed. If I can answer a question please feel free to ask.

Hi sleeper yes I did read your post, i am trying to make an appointment so I don't have to wait around all day and couldn't for the life of me find anything I went in person for my last visas but had to cancel holiday so I have 2 unused visas (do you think they will let me use these?)

Hi bluemoon

Regarding using the visas from last application. As long as they have not expired, and that includes your holiday period then no problem using them.

Gaining an appointment at the centre by phoning up.....as far as I am aware this is not an option. If I am correct you have to use the online system to make an appointment and then visit the centre at that time. If you do use the online appointment system be aware that the notice in the room says make the guard aware that you have arrived. Trouble is the guard is often in the secure room for quite some times so just knock on the VFS door and he will come out.

If you just turn up then I would allow yourself a day to do it as it's a lottery to know when you will get in as all the appointments are dealt with at the allotted times. I guess the earlier you go the less in the queue but this does not always make the wait shorter as the queue may not start to be seen until 12:00 midday and you may have ticket number 1 and have been there since 09:00. I arrived at 11:30 and had ticket 20 and was seen at about 14:45.

Hope this helps.

Erm... I'm having a bit of a panic about visas. I finished paying for our trip to Goa today and started looking at the VSF website and am slightly concerned.

It recommends on the site that you do not book flights until you have obtained your visa. I realise this is probably the sensible way to do it, but we wanted a particular holiday so booked a whole year in advance.

We are due to fly out on 2nd Feb, arriving in Goa on 3rd Feb. Leaving Goa 13th Feb.

So my questions are:

1) Do I put date of entry into India as 3rd Feb? (I am assuming I do!)

2) For Indian referees can I put the hotel for one and NA for the other?

3) Am I correct that for any question that is not relevant I put NA (not N/A)?

4) I am thinking that I should fill in the online applications on 14th November as I am aware that it can take some time to get a visa, and it is valid from date of issue not date of entry. Is that sensible?

5) Are applications often refused? I am quite worried that we will have to reapply for some reason. We will be applying online/by post and CANNOT go in person to apply

6) I am self employed. I do two things - I write for a website and I run an internship programme training graduates. What do I put down as my occupation and do I have to put down an employer? In which case do I just write "self employed" or do I pick one of the companies I have a 12 month contract with?

Hi haymans74

If it helps I have a photo of a pre filled form on my website that shows how to fill them in.

http://www.wildrossendale.co.uk/GoaTripReport-2009.html

Q1) Yes
Q2) Yes and put the address of the British high commission in Delhi, India,
Q3) YES
Q4) That's fine
Q5) To some degree but more than not it's usually user error. The signature MUST match EXACTLY the signature on your passport.....EXACTLY!
Q6) Can't help with that sorry.

thank you SO much! That's really helpful

Hi got are visa back this morning two weeks in all. always a relief to have them back....

Hi Haymans74,
re question 6 I am also self-employed but just put on my form a job title that describes the job I do.
I wouldn't put self-employed as they may wonder what your job is!!!
How about just saying you are a teacher?

Hi squigs yes I think teacher is a good idea. I don't want to put writer or journalist as that opens a whole other can of worms!

I agree, definitely not writer or journalist!!!

2 visa applications posted to Hayes on Saturday. Fingers crossed that they come back OK. I lost count of how many forms I signed before I was satisfied my signature was like that on my passport!

Sorry just a few more questions re postal applications:

1. Can you send 4 applications together?

2. Do you have to send them special delivery?

Thanks
Bluemoon

Yes Bluemoon you can send off 4 we did that about 2 years ago so the answer is yes you can ...colleen

You can send 4 applications in the same envelope and yes you are advised to send them by special delivery but please note the following taken off the VFS website:-

"Maximum two processed passports shall be returned in one envelope. Hence, as an example, for a family of three please include two SDEs"

Maria