Chinese visiting England, have Schengen visa

Upvote:1

I am not aware of any “simple” way to get a UK visa once you have a Schengen visa. A good history of travels in the Schengen area (but also the US, Canada, etc.) helps a bit and if you are ready to pay some extra fees, the UK offers premium visa services that might help you get a visa quickly but you still need to fulfill all the usual requirements.

Assuming you are an EU citizen, there are two other rules that might be of some relevance, but I don't think they will be immediately helpful to you in this case:

  • If your wife would hold a residence card (but not merely a visa) as a “family member of a Union citizen” in a Schengen/EU country, she can visit the UK with you without visa.
  • Since she would be traveling with you, your wife should be eligible for an EEA family permit. That's relatively “easy” compared to a regular visa in that it's free of charge and the main requirement is proving that she is indeed your wife. But it can still take some time and effort to get one (I am not sure about the current status of all this but in spite of the EU's recommendation that such visas should be issued “quickly”, it could in fact take longer than a regular visa because excessive processing time for EEA family permits was a serious problem a while back).

Upvote:4

Yes indeed there is a simple way for Chinese nationals to get a UK visa at the same time they get a Schengen.

This question/answer pair reveals the details Obtaining a UK and Schengen Visa in a Single Application or Single Step in China

Upon reading the article, you will find that the procedure extracts fields from a UK application and puts the information in the corresponding fields on the Schengen application (pretty neat, huh?).

When this is complete, the person can make a single visit to the VAC and submit both applications at the same time. It's amazing! :) The VAC will forward the applications to their respective centres, the analysis and decision-making pipelines are totally separate.

Based upon what you wrote, you already have a Schengen, so the procedures will not be of use to you. You will need to apply for a UK visa from the beginning and if you're travelling in 4 days, you should use their Super Premium Service.

If you are currently in Sweden, you can apply at the British Embassy in Stockholm. Fortunately for you, the Stockholm consulate contains the hub for Scandinavia so your application can be processed locally.

It's also likely you may have heard about the UK's Approved Destination Status scheme for Chinese tour operators. It's not applicable for you because you need to sign up for a tour originating in China with a licensed tour operator.

Finally, Relaxed's answer to your question accurately describes the EU procedures. These procedures are also available to you and worth checking out as well.

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