（English follows Japanese.) 

昨日夕方，エリザベス女王ご逝去の一報があり，BBCはこのニュースで持ちきりです．Googleのトップもグレーになって，世界中が悲しみにくれていますね．25歳から女王として生きるってどんな人生だったでしょうか．ご冥福をお祈りします．

さて，英国ビザ話です．英国ビザは基本的にオンライン申請します．CoSが届くまでの間，ちょこちょこ申請ページを読んでいたので，何とか自分が申請すべきビザが見つかりました．これです．

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

氏名，年齢，出生地，パスポート情報，既婚未婚か，配偶者の情報，扶養家族の情報，英国での住所，過去10年の旅行歴（パスポートのスタンプから自分で入力！滞在日数まで！イミグレの人が上手にスタンプ押してくれる国とそうじゃない国があることを学びました），英国不法滞在の有無，英国入国拒否経験の有無，犯罪歴，テロリスト集団に支援された経験の有無，過激派組織加入経験の有無，犯罪前科，スピード違反，自動車保険未加入経験の有無などなど．．．

スピード違反したことなくてよかった．．．2時間くらい入力に時間を要しました．

入力が終わったら，ビザ申請料が知らされます．私の場合は，44,455円でした．クレジットカード払いのみの受付です．その後，IHSのページに自動的に誘導されます．

IHSとは？
Immigration Health Surcharge（通称：IHS)とは、非EEA国籍者がビザを取得して6ヵ月以上イギリスに滞在する場合にイギリス国内の公共医療サービスを使用するための費用としてビザ申請時に納めなければならない費用のことです（ここから引用）。

これが結構高いです．私の場合，2年間の滞在で214,207円でした．日数を1年半などに減らしてみると16万円程度という金額が出ました．滞在日数でその場で厳密に計算され，請求されます．これをクレジットカードで支払わなければ次に進めません．ビザと同時請求のIHSがあることを知らなかったので，悲しみながらお支払い．次にVFSのページに誘導されます（まだあるんかい！）

VFSとは指紋や写真を提供する場所（ビザセンター）です．日本には東京と大阪の2カ所にあります．VFSのページでビザセンターの予約をとります．私はちょうど1週間後くらいに面接予約が取れました．

実はこのとき，スタンダードビザ（2週間くらいで発行される）ではなく，5日でビザ発行が可能なプライオリティサービスに申し込もうと思っていました（4万円くらい追加料金を支払う必要あり）．しかし，VFSのページのトップには，「ロシアのウクライナ侵攻といった世界情勢のため，プライオリティサービスは停止している」という悲しい情報が掲載されているではありませんか！そして私の職場（国立の研究所）にも，「英国ビザ取得者殺到と社会情勢のためにビザ取得が取りにくくなっている」という連絡が文科省経由で到着．本当にVFS面接後，2週間で出るのだろうか？ここでとても不安になりました．

ひとまず，VFSの面接予約が取れたら，私が持参しないといけない書類は何なのかがチェックリストとして出力されます．私の場合はなんと「パスポートだけ」でした．

銀行残高証明（英語），英国でのアパート契約書，戸籍謄本（英語），博士号証明証（英語），給与証明（英語），雇用証明（英語），英語能力証明などいろいろと必要とインターネットの記事（過去の同一ビザ取得者のページ）に書いてあったので用意していましたが，CoSを出した段階で給与（スポンサーがいること）が明らかになっていること，大学からの招聘を受けているなどの事実から，これらは必要なかったのかもしれません．

しかし，相変わらず心配性の私は手元にある書類を全てVFS面接の24時間前までにシステムにアップロード．

さて，次は子供たちのビザ申請です．ここで本当にトラブりました．

つづく．

Yesterday evening, the news of Queen Elizabeth's passing away was all over the BBC, Google's top page was grayed out, and the whole world was in mourning. May she rest in peace.

Now, let's talk about UK visa. Basically, you can apply for a UK visa online, and I managed to find the visa I should apply for by reading the application page while I was waiting for my CoS to arrive. Here it is.

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

Name, age, place of birth, passport information, marital status, marital status, information on unwanted family members, address in the UK, travel history for the last 10 years (enter your own information from the stamp in your passport! Even the length of your stay! ), whether you have been in the UK illegally or not, whether you have been refused entry to the UK or not, criminal record, whether you have supported a terrorist group or not, whether you have joined an extremist group or not, criminal convictions, speeding tickets, whether you have not had car insurance, etc.... I'm glad I've never had a speeding ticket....

I'm glad I've never had a speeding ticket... It took me about 2 hours to fill in the form.

After the input is done, you will be informed of the visa application fee. In my case, it was 44,455 yen. They only accept payment by credit card. After that, you are automatically directed to the IHS page.

What is IHS?
Immigration Health Surcharge (commonly known as IHS) is a fee that non-EEA nationals must pay at the time of visa application to use public health services in the UK when they stay in the UK for more than 6 months on a visa (quoted from here).

This is quite expensive ... . In my case, it was 214,207 yen for a 2-year stay. When I reduced the number of days to one and a half years, the amount was about 160,000 yen. The amount is calculated strictly on the spot based on the number of days of your stay and charged to your credit card. The amount is calculated strictly on the spot based on the number of days of stay, and you must pay it with a credit card before proceeding. Since I did not know that IHS charges at the same time as the visa, I paid it with sadness. Next, you will be directed to the VFS page.

VFS is a place (visa center) where fingerprints and photos are provided. You make an appointment for the visa center on the VFS page. I was able to make an appointment for an interview about a week later.

Actually, at that time, I was planning to apply for the Priority Service, which can issue a visa in 5 days instead of the Standard Visa (which takes about 2 weeks) (I had to pay an additional fee of about 40,000 yen). However, the top of the VFS page sadly stated that the Priority Service was suspended due to the world situation, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine! And at my workplace (a national research institute), I received a notice via the Ministry of Education that "it is difficult to obtain a visa due to the flood of applicants for UK visas and the social situation". Would I really be able to get a visa within two weeks after the VFS interview? This is where I became very worried.

First of all, when I got an appointment for the VFS interview, a checklist of documents that I need to bring was printed out. In my case, I only needed my passport.

I had prepared them because I had read in an article on the Internet (on a page of a past recipient of the same visa) that various documents are required, such as proof of bank balance (in English), apartment contract in the UK, family register (in English), PhD certificate (in English), proof of salary (in English), proof of employment (in English), proof of English proficiency, etc. However, when I submitted my CoS, I was told that I had to prepare all of these documents. However, I may not have needed these things because my salary (with a sponsor) is known at the stage when I submitted the CoS, and the fact that I was invited by the university.

However, being a worrier as ever, I uploaded all the documents I had at hand into the system at least 24 hours before the VFS interview.

Now, the next step is to apply for visas for the children. This is where I really got into trouble.

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）