VEC visa application London - I'm confused

I applied here in HCM and only needed a copy.of her ID care and a certified copy of the marriage certificate. Not sure how much different UK will be.

No matter what visa of VEC you have flights are restricted.

Would be very easy to get your VEC here from experience

Yes I am still confused about that. As on the one occasion I did manage to get through to the embassy, the staff member told me that a copy of my wife's birth certificate was necessary along with a certified copy of her ID card and passport.

Though I thought, along with others, that it wasn't.

On the embassy VEC visa information page they just use backslashes as in passport/birth certificate/Id card.

And does not signify if the backslashes mean and/or. As in this section of their VEC visa notes here:

iv.       Certified copies of original documents or present copies attached to original documents for reference one of the following papers proving their spouse or child relationship with Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese (birth certificate or marriage certificate and Vietnamese passport/birth certificate/ID of the applicant's spouse or parents)

...

And if I do manage to get the VEC visa, how long do I have before I must use it for the first time?

Earlyant wrote:

And if I do manage to get the VEC visa, how long do I have before I must use it for the first time?

First off even if and when you do get the VEC you may be subject to the "new visa" ban from Europe/UK from 3/15-4/15.  It's a grey area, because you don't have a "new visa", you have an exemption which may "technically" get you around that ban.  The problem is I don't think you will be very successful getting a guaranteed commitment from anyone on the phone before you come and even if you do there's no guarantee that the agent at the immigration desk won't see it another way.  It's just risky right now.

Second I don't think there is any use it or lose it clause on the VEC.  I've never seen any reference to one anywhere.  You will lose the time available to you since the expiration date will be set but beyond that whenever you arrive you will get stamped for 180 days from that date.

Earlyant wrote:

And if I do manage to get the VEC visa, how long do I have before I must use it for the first time?

First off even if and when you do get the VEC you may be subject to the "new visa" ban from Europe/UK from 3/15-4/15.  It's a grey area, because you don't have a "new visa", you have an exemption which may "technically" get you around that ban.  The problem is I don't think you will be very successful getting a guaranteed commitment from anyone on the phone before you come and even if you do there's no guarantee that the agent at the immigration desk won't see it another way.  It's just risky right now.

Second I don't think there is any use it or lose it clause on the VEC.  I've never seen any reference to one anywhere.  You will lose the time available to you since the expiration date will be set but beyond that whenever you arrive you will get stamped for 180 days from that date.

Earlyant wrote:

And if I do manage to get the VEC visa, how long do I have before I must use it for the first time?

Anytime before the expiration date, which is 5 years from the date of issue.

Thank you all for your help.

Yes, it is all very risky now and things changing on a daily basis.

But my fear is if I wait too long for applying then all those certified stamped copies of wife documents I have accumulated: passport, id card, birth certificate will expire, as they are only valid for a certain amount of time, gawd knows how many months that is, from the date of the certification stamp, and I don't want wife to have keep going backwards and forwards to the local police station to get new certified copies.

Still waiting on the certified copy of her birth certificate that she insists that I need, because according to her it is important because it contains the names of her mum and dad. Even though embassy said it was needed, I still feel that is is not. ??????????

As far as I know the certified/stamped documents are valid for 6 months.

Earlyant wrote:

Thank you all for your help.

Yes, it is all very risky now and things changing on a daily basis.

But my fear is if I wait too long for applying then all those certified stamped copies of wife documents I have accumulated: passport, id card, birth certificate will expire, as they are only valid for a certain amount of time, gawd knows how many months that is, from the date of the certification stamp, and I don't want wife to have keep going backwards and forwards to the local police station to get new certified copies.

Still waiting on the certified copy of her birth certificate that she insists that I need, because according to her it is important because it contains the names of her mum and dad. Even though embassy said it was needed, I still feel that is is not. ??????????

Why do you "feel" it's not needed even though your wife and the Embassy say they "know" it IS needed?

I may have passed right over it but I looked and I couldn't find a single reference to the VEC anywhere on the website of the VN Embassy in London.  By contrast, it is easy to find the spousal VEC, along with document requirements, on the San Francisco Consulate site:  https://vietnamconsulate-sf.org/en/2017 … y-members/  Only one document seems to be required depending on the circumstance.  In your case that would be the marriage certificate.  (You need to go to #1 for in-person applications for the document list.)  I can't see any changes in the SF consulate site since the COVID-19 outbreak but that certainly does not mean that the London Embassy did not make changes.

Yes good point.

Because the birth certificate, apart from mum and dad details, basically has the same info as passport and ID card. Namely date of birth, place of birth, gender.

And have heard from others that it wasn't which just leaves me even more confused

Managed to get through to a consular staff member at the embassy and can confirm that they are not accepting applications for any type of visa until at least the 15th of April.