I'm a simple emigrant and I got a visa to the United Kingdom

A German temporary or permanent residence permit gives you the ability to travel within the Schengen Area and some additional conveniences for entering other European countries, but the UK has always been a separate issue. Germans now need a passport to enter there, and I also need a visa. Honestly, I've forgotten what it's like to gather documents and wait in uncertainty about whether the visa will be granted, but I know exactly how much all of this costs regardless of the decision. To my surprise, there are no UK consulates or a UK service center in Frankfurt, although Frankfurt–London is a super popular business destination. I had to go to Berlin, just as I used to travel from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg. How much does all this cost: visa fee – £115 (~13.5k rubles), service fee – €66 (~6.5k rubles), travel to Berlin and back €40 or about four thousand rubles. I stayed with a friend – priceless 🥰 Also I paid €33 (~3,000 ₽) for courier return delivery so I wouldn’t have to go to the center a second time. The standard process is the same everywhere: you fill out a form, submit biometrics, leave your passport, and wait. You don’t even need an interview, and the consulate doesn’t require any appointments: you can simply indicate the proposed dates and place of residence. I got my passport back after five weeks with a visa valid for six months. They say that when applying here they rarely refuse, and with the visa they even gave me an English SIM card as a gift with internet! It turned out that my German number there already worked with a regular tariff. And I’ll tell you about the trip itself some other time. Tell us about your visa experiences in the comments! #useful #money