greenwells

Hello

I anticipate my wife in China will receive her spouse visa soon.

She is unable to travel to UK within 30 days so the vignette would expire. The reason she cannot travel is because we have a dog and due to aviation rules dogs cannot fly directly to UK, dogs must fly to France first then travel to UK by car. So my wife needs to arrange a France visa (estimated time 20 days) and then arrange the dogs documents (estimated time 10 days).

I have read that 30 day vignettes can be replaced using a transfer of conditions. LINK

Question 1
My question is how long does it normally take to get your vignette back once you hand in your passport at the Visa application centre?

Question 2
If the 30 day vignette expired and we did not apply online to transfer the conditions, would we then have to reapply for the spouse visa from the beginning? (paying £1500 in fees, waiting 3 months and preparing all the documents)

Thank you All

BritInParis

I’m not an expert admittedly but that doesn’t sound right regarding your dogs. Whose rules exactly?

spouse of scouse

You can fly your dog directly into the UK with Cathay Pacific, China Southern and China Airways (among others)

You can get a pet passport for your dog in Hong Kong, for the rest of China you'll need different documents. Please see links below:
https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad
https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad/l...sted-countries
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...hird-countries

greenwells

Thanks for the replies, really appreciated.

You are right. A dog can fly from China to UK however they must travel as cargo using cargo flight companies and the price seems to be between £2000 and £3000

If flying from China to UK the cheaper option of flying with your dog (using a passenger airline) in the cabin or in the hold is not available. You can use this option when flying from China to France and it will cost your flight ticket plus about £150 for the dog.

Question 1
How long does it normally take to get your vignette back once you hand in your passport at the Visa application centre?

Question 2
If the 30 day vignette expired and we did not apply online to transfer the conditions, would we then have to reapply for the spouse visa from the beginning? (paying £1500 in fees, waiting 3 months and preparing all the documents)

SanDiegogirl

My goodness..... after all the hassle you have been through with your application, you are only now working out how to get your dog to the UK, and you are seriously thinking about not picking up the BRP document and letting the vignette lapse.

Leave the dog with someone, wife flies to UK to get the BRP document and then flies back to China to sort out dog.

Rete

On the length of that flight to France, why would you want to subject the other passengers to having your dog in the passenger cabin? A dog is not going to be able to hold his bodily functions for that many hours and I certainly don't want an animal's urine running across my feet or their feces smelling up the cabin. The best place for the animal is in the cargo and/or to remain in China.

BritInParis

greenwells

Yes after much thought I have decided to pay the cargo agent/company to arrange the dogs transport.

Thanks for the replies everyone.