If you are american, live in one of the states mentioned above, and plan to travel to the uk, you can request your visa within the three months prior to your trip’s date, because the uk border agency can only post-date visas by a maximum of three months from the decision date on its visa application. Nevertheless you should know that there are visas that cannot be post-dated.

You have to apply for your visa online, and can enter the uk anytime after your visa’s issue date, never before, thus, be patient and wait until your visa is approved and in your hand to confirm your travel plans to the uk.

The processing time for your visa begins to count once the personnel at the uk border agency is in possession of the application, and it varies according to the type of visa you are applying for.

The uk border agency recommends that you buy a refundable and flexible ticket if you are travelling to the uk but don’t have a visa yet, since it will not assume responsibility for any money loss, and it doesn’t accelerate any visa-processing times just because you must travel on a specific date.

Next is a chart showing the average processing times of uk visa applications received in los angeles, california during january 2010, however, these times are not guaranteed. All visa applications are considered individually because every person’s situation is unique, thus, processing times may vary.

Processing times are shown in working days, excluding weekends and public holidays, and they are calculated from the day the visa application centre in los angeles received your visa application form.

The biometric enrolment should be done at a department of homeland security application support centre in the us at the person’s convenience before the documents are delivered.

Contact a uk immigration lawyer for more information and further assistance.

Please note that these articles and the information contained herein are purely for general guidance and do not constitute a professional legal or any other opinion as to the merits of a particular application or whether specific immigration requirements have been met of a particular category. This information is generic and should not be relied upon as a definitive guide to fulfilling specific category requirements. However should any individual do so it is at his or her own risk for which uk migration lawyers limited cannot be held responsible in any way.