We were on track to leave en route to the United Kingdom when
somebody mentioned in passing that we ought to have our visas sorted out before
leaving Okinawa. What?! Why had nobody mentioned this
sooner? Our only requirement for
entry to Okinawa had been our passports – tourist passports at that! And now, at the last possible moment we
were learning that our tourist passports were not sufficient and that in fact
we needed no-fee government passports, imprinted in advance with entry
clearance visas to the UK?!
It was a massive scramble for us to get this sorted out and
taken care of on time, and to be honest we quite nearly didn’t make it. We managed by the skin of our
teeth. But if somebody had just
explained the requirements sooner, we’d have been a lot better off.
Traveling to the UK on PCS orders requires a special entry
clearance visa and a no-fee government passport. The first step is to apply for your no-fee passports right
away. Passport processing and
turnaround can take quite some time, so as soon as you are aware of your orders
to any overseas location, it’s a good idea to apply for not only your no-fee
passport, but if finances allow, also for your tourist passport. Ask your command where the passport
office is on base. And if they
can’t point you in the right direction, you can check at your local post
office. More information on
Passports can be found here (http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html). If you’re REALLY pressed for time,
passports can be expedited and obtained same-day (for a fee) if you can get in
at one of the US Passport agency offices (http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_913.html).
And then you wait.
Your sponsor will not need the entry clearance visa. Actually, your sponsor won’t need much
of anything beyond his or her orders.
The entry clearance stamp only applies to dependents.
Once your passports arrive, give them a once-over to make sure
everything looks perfect. And then
kiss them goodbye because you’re going to have to ship them off to New York
City. This was really
nerve-wracking for us because we were so pressed for time, but the office that
handles this is very efficient.
Aside from a phone call we made to the office that cost us a whopping $3
per minute to ask for guidance, we had no issues with them at all. Their website has much of the process
outlined for quick reference (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/usa/?langname=UK%20English). This process is also EXPENSIVE. To the tune of around $500 per
visa. It’s also, in many cases,
reimbursable. So be sure that you
keep a paper trail of your expenses associated with this requirement. The process for obtaining this visa after
you’ve already arrived in the UK is achievable but even more costly,
unfortunately. Handling this step
as soon as you are able to is very much in your favor. You fill out the visa application and
pay the fee entirely online, and then you submit your no-fee passport(s) along
with any other required paperwork (original birth certificates, marriage
certificates, additional passport photos, etc) via mail. I suggest going with insured priority
mail, given the nature of the required documents.
If you’re in a hurry like we were, there’s an expedite option
for this procedure as well and while it’s an additional expense, it’s still
well under what you’d pay to handle the visas after your arrival in the UK, so
absolutely worth considering.
Given that
we were due to leave Okinawa soon, we requested that the issuing agency return
our passports to our home of record where we’d be visiting for several weeks in
between leaving Okinawa and arriving in the UK, and this worked out well for us
as they shipped them there via FedEx.
We traveled home with our tourist passports (which weren’t needed for
the visa process) and collected our no-fee passports with their new entry
clearances when we arrived in California.
If somebody else has more information on obtaining no-fee passports and UK entry clearance visas from another military branch, please share your stories and your advice! I'd love to hear from you. gonzka at gmail dot com.
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