英国ビザ取ったるでー（その7）

（English follows Japanese.)
やってまいりました，VFS Global．港区東新橋のイタリア街付近にあります．雨降る中，前泊していたホテルからタクシーで向かいました．8時半は朝イチのようでした．普通の雑居ビルの一室のドア前に並びます．少し前にドアが開き，守衛さんから手荷物チェックを受け，コンピュータをロッカーに預けるように指示されました．

がーん，手荷物チェックがあるのか！そらあるよね．うっかりしてました．銀座のホテルで脱ぎ捨てた家族全員の服やらがごちゃごちゃに入ったトランクを全開し，中身のチェックを受けました．もっと整理しておけばよかった・・・．

受付を済ませ，いざ中へ．15席ほど椅子があり，カウンターは4つ程度（そのうち開いているのか2つか3つ）．若いスタッフの方がテキパキと働いています．受付時にもらった番号に従って呼ばれます．

私の担当は30代くらいの女性でした．私と子供二人の申請書を見せたところ，システムを見つめながら難しいお顔．．．「これはもしや，しくじったか？」

VFS女性：すみません，お母様のビザはこちらでいいのですが，同伴されるお子様について，このビザではない可能性があります．こちら（ビザ申請の下請けとしてのVFS)ではビザの正しいカテゴリーをお知らせすることは禁止されているので，このまま申請されてもいいのですが，一旦申請を進めてしまうと申請料などは一切返金されません．

私：そうなのですね．ではどのビザが正しいのでしょう？システムで見せてもらっていいですか？

VFS女性：（コンピュータのモニターをこちらに向けて）これですね．いま申請されているのは，Family in the UKなので既に何かスキルのある業種で英国で勤務されている方が，英国に扶養家族を呼び寄せるためのものです．

VFS女性に示されたビザは，このページの下にある「+more」をクリックして始めて出てくる「Work at the UK」のページの

Short-term work visas　> 
Government Authorised Exchange visa (Temporary Work)

すると私自身のビザ申請カテゴリーのページに辿り着きます．そこの一番下の，

Your partner and children

だそうな！「こ，これかー，これなのかー！深い，深すぎるぞ！」

私：わかりました．子供たちについては出直します．私自身のビザだけ申請を進めたいので，バイオメトリクス（指紋，顔写真等）を取ります．

VFS女性：わかりました．

そして，その日のうちに，怒りに震えながら子供たちのビザを再申請．するとビザ申請料は，私と同じ44,455円に下がりましたが，IHSが645,369円に跳ね上がりました．なんてこと！子供は二人なので×2です．また，泣く泣くお支払い．クレジットカードでの支払いです．初回の間違いのビザについては忘れずにキャンセルし，Refund request (返金要求）を出しておきました（9月20日現在，まだ返金されていません（涙））．

Temporary workerは給与は自国から持参ですし，英国の経済に関わるわけではありません．なので，子供のIHS（移民医療サービス代）2年分が高額なのかもしれません．事前に調べておいた同じビザ取得者のページにはこの情報はありませんでした．IHSについてはここに興味深い情報があります．移民が増えてきて，英国の寛容なNHSの恩恵を受けたい人が増えてきたことが原因なのかもしれませんね．

破産する・・・．ビザ申請とIHSの支払い額が思いのほか大きくて，ただただ不安が募るばかりでした．2022年8月上旬のお話です．残るは夫のCoS．．．と思いきや，Child welfare arising from section 55 of the Borders Citizenship and Immigration Act (国境・市民権・移民法第55条に起因する児童福祉) なるものにひっかかり，苦しみます．

つづく．

Here we are, VFS Global, located near the Italian Street in Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. I took a cab in the rain from the hotel where I had stayed the night before. 8:30 seemed to be the earliest time in the morning. I lined up in front of the door of a room in an ordinary multi-tenant building. The door opened a little before I arrived, and the guard checked my baggage and asked me to leave my computer in a locker.

Gosh, there is a baggage check! Of course there is. I was so careless. I opened my trunk, which contained all the family's clothes and other things I had taken off at the hotel in Ginza, and had its contents checked. I should have been more organized...

After the reception, it was time to go in. 15 chairs and 4 counters (2 or 3 of them were open). The young staff is working quickly and efficiently. You are called according to the number you received at the reception.

I was assigned to a woman in her 30's. She showed me the application form for me and my two children. When I showed her the application forms for me and my two children, she looked at the system with a difficult expression on her face. I said to her, "Did I mess this up?"

VFS Woman: I'm sorry, your mother's visa is fine, but there is a possibility that the children accompanying you may not be eligible for this visa. We (VFS as a subcontractor for visa application) are not allowed to inform you of the correct category of visa, so you may continue with the application, but once you proceed with the application, the application fee and other fees will not be refunded.

I: I see. Then which visa is correct? May I see it in the system?

VFS Woman: (Turning the computer monitor toward me) This is the one. You are applying for a Family in the UK visa, which is for people who are already working in the UK in a skilled trade and are bringing their dependents to the UK.

The visa shown for a VFS woman is for a short-term work visa > Government Authorised Exchange visa (Temporary Work) on the "Work at the UK" page, which appears when you click on "+more" at the bottom of this page.

This takes me to the page for my visa application category. At the bottom of the page, click on

Your partner and children

I see that it is "Your partner and children"! I thought, "This is it, this is it! It's too deep, too deep!"

Me: Okay. I'll come back for the children. I will take biometrics (fingerprints, photo, etc.) so that I can proceed with my own visa application only.

VFS Woman: Okay.

And later that day, I angrily reapplied for the children's visas. The visa application fee dropped to 44,455 yen, the same as mine, but the IHS fee jumped to 645,369 yen. Oh my god! I have two children, so that's x2. I had to pay again, in tears. I paid by credit card. I remembered to cancel the visa for the first time and submitted a refund request (as of September 20, it has not been refunded yet (tears)).

Temporary workers are paid from their own country and are not involved in the UK economy. So, the IHS (Immigration Health Service) fee for my child for 2 years may be too expensive. There is some interesting information about IHS here. Maybe it is due to the increasing number of immigrants who want to take advantage of the UK's permissive NHS.....................

Bankruptcy .... The amount of visa application and IHS payment was unexpectedly large and it just made me anxious.......this was in early August 2022........ The only thing left was my husband's CoS......................... But then, I was caught by Child welfare arising from section 55 of the Borders Citizenship and Immigration Act, and I suffered........

To be continued.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
(完全にAIさんに翻訳頼ってます．文法チェックや細かい直しは面倒なので入れてません）