Road to the UK

-14th July 2021- Malaysian applying for UK Fiance visa

Warning this is a really long post!

This post is to record my journey (a Malaysian) to the UK on a Fiance visa during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It was not an easy one especially the virus has made the situation more difficult to apply. 

Disclaimer: This is completely my personal experience, please do not assume every situation and the outcome will be the same as mine.

Online application was made using the UK Visa and Immigration website (the link i used - https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/apply-visa-type/appendixfm). PLEASE make sure you are applying the correct visa, mine is the Fiance visa, this is for those who intend to get married in the UK and continue staying in the UK after the marriage. 

After creating an account with the Appendix FM partner form, there is a long form to complete and prepare all the documents needed as indicated throughout the form, there will be a checklist for the documents needed towards the end of the form. 

Here is a list of documents that I provided:
- my passport
- fiance's passport & british citizen cert
- cover letter from fiance, MIL, two of our friends to prove our relationship is genuine
- about three pages of photo grid of me and my fiance with some caption on each photo, ordered by ascending timeline (to prove our relationship again)
- fiance's payslips and bank statements, employment letter, employment contract.
- council tax of the residence that I am going to stay in the UK
- email correspondence with UK registra (booking giving notice) to prove our intention to get married.
- TB test result
- my master cert and transcripts to UKNARIC to prove my English proficiency (so my Master of Economics from University Malaya is granted a CEFR level C1). If you opt for this option - UKNARIC, you will need to provide a letter issued by your university to verify the qualification and English was used in teaching, I find this is actually quite troublesome but it saves you from sitting for an English test. I was lucky that I have a Master cert as my Degree was with UKM which is famous for  Bahasa as the medium of instruction, thus I can't use my Degree to apply for UKNARIC. An extra note, the service I got from UKNARIC is the visas and nationality, I think they changed their name UKNARIC to Ecctis.

So I completed the form and made payment (it was 2031 USD, not cheap yeah) on the 23rd of August, but I couldn't see any available bio appointment with KL Vfs even though they are open, it was due to the lockdown restriction and they don't open many appointments slot in a day. It was frustrating and I had been constantly refresh the link to check for any available time slot. After three days I finally managed to get a slot for 1st of Sept and it was a Premium appointment so I ended up paying about RM700 which includes document scanning service. We were actually planning to get the doc scanning service as we were confused with all the documents categories, and probably we were over-concerned that if we upload the document to the wrong category, it will complicate the process so to ease that concern, we opted for the doc scanning service.

My appointment with KL Vfs was pretty pleasant and smoother than I anticipated. The entire process (biometrics which are the photo and fingerprints + scanning documents) took about an hour.

After the biometric submission, the waiting game begins, I did not go for the priority although it was available since I need some time to prepare my emotion (it was a big decision to move to another country that is far away from your family and where you grow up) and I wanted to spend more time with my family (gosh, I miss them so much now!). 

So my waiting time was around 7 weeks (35 WD) after biometrics submission on the 1st of Sept, the processing time starts from the day you go for the biometrics appointment with Vfs. I received my passport on the 21st of October, 2020.

Alright, when you thought everything settled after getting the passport with the visa vignette, then you are wrong all thanks to the covid pandemic. As Malaysia was still under lockdown (I forgot it was CMCO or RMCO, anyway this is not important), Malaysians who wish to leave the country need to apply for a pass (MTP). For this application, since I have the valid visa to enter the UK and it is a settlement route, I was not worried to get a rejection from it. For this MTP application, I provided my visa, my fiance's visa and a cover letter explaining my situation that I won't be coming to Malaysia in short term. Since there is a start and end date to leave Malaysia, I applied on the 1st of November and I was granted a Yes (exit date 11 Dec 2020 - 11 March 2021) on the 3rd of November, the process only took two days, pretty quick yeah?

Although the UK government does not need a PCR test result from the safe list countries back then, I did my first ever PCR test with Sunway Velocity drive thru test. I guess Malaysia is no longer in the safe list now, I am not sure so do check if a PCR negative result is needed before you board the plane. Also, do complete the passenger locator online form before arriving the UK, this is required by the UK government.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading and sorry for this crappy long post. Hope this will help those who is going to apply for a UK fiance visa.

一切会好的

才昨天收到一个坏消息
今天又来个不乐观的消息

一切会好的
就只能这样一直安慰自己

好害怕
跟他回去是为了见你最后一面
去年已经失去了一个表姐给病魔

虽然你还不是我的爸
我记得很清楚去年我回国之前你对我说
"welcome to the Toft family"

所以Toft爸爸，要坚持跟病魔作战
我们很快就回去跟你一起拼！

Touch n Go card from different countries.

This post is about the name for touch n go card in other countries that I have visited.

Touch n Go card is a prepaid electronic-cash card in Malaysia, perfect for traveler or driver as this card can be used for toll/train/bus fare and paying parking.

Taiwan - 悠遊卡  (Easycard)

UK - Oyster card

Bangkok - Rabbit card

What is the name in your country?

Malaysia has Touch N Go card....

Ain't too fancy the name yet straight-to-the-point isn't it?

ps: would want to add more to the list here.. 

*Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) and Philippines (Bohol Panglao Island) are not in the list as I did not travel on train, mostly on foot, or by taxi and boat..

Siem Reap (November 2016)

Gosh... Just realised my blog has been dormant for so long.....

Was and am still busy since then...

To sum up, traveled to Siem Reap for 4D3N last November (year 2016) with another two of my friends (girls' trip) and my longest flight ever to land of British gentleman (UK) in December!

Hope to visit the country (UK) again this year, guess I have fallen in love? *fingers crossed*

Alright, why not let's start with a brief update on my Siem Reap trip.

Advice to future tourist to the city, prepare USD instead of their local currency, basically everything there is sold in USD, though sometimes they might return small change in Cambodian Riel, anyway fear not, you can still pay with Riel anywhere and the locals are more than happy to explain how to convert them to USD.

Another advice, do hire a tour guide that can explain all the history in English if you are not chinese/korean/japanese and etc speaker. Tour guide has been very helpful to us in understanding their culture and you will be moved by the stories behind the wats (i.e. Angkor Wat).

Guess pictures are far more interesting than my explanation. (Simply don't want to be spoiler)

haha.. 

and ps: visit them (Angkor Wat and other ruins) as soon as possible as they seems to be not stable and falling apart soon. These building are pretty cool and magnificent, it is pretty sad to know that we may not be able to preserve these historical buildings, majority of them are either wrapped/support by the white cords (picture below) or woods.

Also, there will be a price hike in the entrance fee soon, or have they increased the price? 

not too sure though, anyway, we bought the 3-days pass for.....can't remember.. haha

these are destroyed by war.. =P

But I'm not joking about it falling apart soon.

They called it spung tree...

It is a huge tree indeed, and the tree contributed to the falling of the wats.

some of the remnants of the past..

one of the tree that I like the most there..

really enjoying to see the local rest under the tree but the weather is unbearably hot,

forced to leave due to the burning sun. (it was about lunch time when this picture was taken)

continued our tour after lunch

more wats and ruins to see

by the way, if you find these are boring, it is suggested to change your destination,

because we spent 3 entire days walking and sight-seeing all the wats.

There are more than hundred wats if not mistaken.

me selfie-ing

I'm glad my friend asked me along, have no regrets visiting this city, though you may end up sweating all day and become super smelly at the end of the day, I think it's worth!

Angkor Thom, should be the largest Wat there.

That's the end of our first day.

Siem Reap city centre.

draft beer is only USD1 for one pint during happy hour.

the second day we had to wake up really early to catch the sun rise,

well they say early birds get the worms..

unfortunately, luck was not on our side, it was a cloudy day

and this is the reality LOL

tourist everywhere.

another magnificent view indeed.

another thing to enjoy through the wats are their carvings

the carvings are so detailed and delicate.

These ancient carvings were carved hundred-thousand years ago and imagine back then without the help from advanced tools/technology to do such fine carvings, impressive aren't they?

surrounding views from angkor Wats - the only wats that is well-known world wide.

side view of Angkor Wat.

One of the most beautiful picture that I have taken in Siem Reap thus far.

it was another day with burning sun..

this is bantey srei if I remember correctly.

Carvings here are one of the most delicate ever amongst the wats.

and it was carved by woman.

another interesting thing about all the wats here, they were built surrounded by a pool of water.

it is for defense purposes from enemy.

after finishing our tour on second day, we cafe-hopped.

Found this hidden gem in siem reap - CRANE cafe.

am not a coffee person hence ordered chocolate drink only.

Anyway, my friends said their latte is really good, highly recommended.

Third day... yup, more wats..

last wat we visited

this was badly destroyed by war.

Reason for wars, the soldier or enemy came to take the Gold that was embedded inside each bricks.

Just heart broken to see the damage.

Alright, that's all for today.

It's Monday tomorrow, hope you all have no Monday blue tomorrow!

Have a great week ahead!

Praying for the best to come. =)

How good are you at psychology?

Just a sharing on the result of a psychology test that I did recently..

Type of brain

What type of brain do you have?
http://brightside.me/article/what-type-of-brain-do-you-have-this-little-test-will-reveal-all-45255/

click on the link above for the test, well, this is not a spam, I did the test myself and see below for my result... Philosophical Brain huh? haha..

Philosophical Brain
You have a philosophical mind. You tend to ponder big questions and are driven by your desire to seek the truth. You are fair minded and are able to see the “big picture” - your evaluations are invaluable.

Alright, that's all for today, just a sharing~
Good night peeps...
it's mid of the weekday tomorrow, look forward to weekend and a letter too!

Day 6, 7 and 8 in Taiwan

Day 6: 花蓮清水斷崖;南方澳漁港＋觀景台

our breakfast!

savoury soya with milk tea, yam pao, eggs.. 

view is really nice~ on the way to ten points "十份"

another great views, more to come

it took us about 3 hours of ride from hualien to reach shifen..

the well-known shifen waterfall 十份瀑布

magnificient~

after the waterfall, time to play lantern.. =P

but before that, shall we write our wishes onto the lantern?

may prosperity showers us..

ooppss.. make a way to the train...

passingby...

byebye train..

alright, after ten minutes.. here is the outcome and we were ready to release it to sky.. 

 

hopefully our wishes will be granted, well, appreciate even just part of it..

*finger cross* 

flying high...

this place is crowded with tourists

train trail

too bad we couldn't stay much longer to explore, it's getting late and our tour guide needed to clock off..

yup, his service starts from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening.

later than 6pm, we have to pay him OT.

after ten points, time to move to nine points (jiufen), bet everyone who is planning to go Taiwan would have heard of this place! 

view from jiufen..

it's a tourist spot on the hill, so weather was just nice, it was abit chilling..

maps of jiufen..

sadly we only have an hour at jiufen and yes, end up we were not able to explore much..

we stayed at Xi Men for the rest of the nights (2 nights) in Taiwan..

Xi Men is really happening, shops everywhere

our first braised pork rice "滷肉飯"

they were yummy~

Starbucks

randomly spotted this big guy..

he is a magician in Xi Men

humorous guy he is..

super big ice cream.. yum yum~

after all these nice stuffs, still couldn't gain more weight, which is good to me =P

i guess also every girls' dream?

yea, we were waiting to get a bite of the ice cream..

 ======================================================================

Day 7: headed to 淡水漁人碼頭 in the morning, it is located at the nothern tip of Taiwan

saw some actor filming, couldn't recognise them though

seem like gay to me, one of them was wearing blue coat (the one standing right beside the pillar) and another one wearing pink (the one sitting at the tip of the ship)

anyhow, we continue our sight-seeing..

this seem cool isn't it?

brother and I just simply like to snap a picture of cute stuffs. 

yachts were everywhere. 

want a lift?

at 淡水老街

time to chunk in some snacks

reed bean filling, not too bad but the ratio of the wafer and red bean filling is not well balanced,

too much of filling. 

fried squids

deep-fried crab

nom nom..this was so delicious..

故宮博物院

time to learn some Taiwan history

well, history is a boring subject to me, as well as the others..

so we stayed a while in the museum only and head to 陽明山國家公園 after lunch..

here we are.. ;陽明山國家公園

this place is still full of volcanic activities

with the volcanic activities, inevitably the air is filled with strong and pungent smell - sulphur.

the smell is really unpleasant.

chilled temperature as this is a hill

before heading back to Xi Men, dropped by at this place for sight-seeing..

some sort of plantation area..

weather here is similar to Genting Highlands (in Malaysia)

gotcha your ugly expression!

Revenge! hahaa

for those who cannot read Mandarin, this is ShihLin night market

one of the famous night market in Taipei.

before going in, got attracted by this prawn fishing stall and here we go, fishing prawn..

It was indeed a very interesting game/activity to do..

my turn to fish.. it's a lot harder than I thought..

second round of braised pork rice..

the braised pork wasn't as nice as the first we tried..

some toast, or so-called coffin board(?) 棺材板 

=======================================================================

Day 8 / Last Day in Taiwan:

中正紀念堂

a place to commemorate the contribution of Sun Yat Sen (i suppose, correct me if otherwise)

looks like a chinese palace isn't it?

well, Taiwan is one of the home of chinese descendants.

this is where the statue placed..

an honourable person in Taiwan.

some history again.. sorry, i'm not interested..

I missed this marching performance, yikess..

lemonade from a vending machine..

different view of the museum..

me in my new Nike sport shoe, bought the night before in Xi Men.

spotted two adorable squirrels taking stroll i guess.. haha

After visiting Sun Yat Sen, we headed to 貓空

it requires about 1 hour of drive to the top of the 貓空hill, but it only takes you around 30 minutes if i remember correctly by taking cable car.

it will be a fantastic ride if the sky is clear, sadly it was not..

basically there was nothing much to do in 貓空茶園

i would suggest to just scrap this out from your list if you are going, and also those museum if you are not interested.

our last stop: Taipei 101 before heading back to KL

Taipei 101 is 101-storey tall standing at 509.2 metres

interior of Taipei101

we had quick dinner as we bought ticket to go up to the viewing deck (time 6:30pm) 

this famous tuned mass damper is designed to withstand earthquake tremors and typhoon winds which always hit Taiwan. 

that's all for my Taiwan trip updates..

looking forward to my next trip : Siem Reap, Cambodia in November