Last year I applied for UK standard visitors Visa and was successfully issued, with Visa written at the top of the sticker which has the resemblance of the schengen Visa. Fast forward this year, in the month of June I applied for another standard visitors Visa but was issued an entry clearance sticker which has a different look than the regular Visa. I would like to know, at what point are this two stickers issued and under what circumstances? What are the major differences between them?
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Did you apply via the gov.uk website or VFS, or via a 3rd party agent?– TravellerCommented Jul 19, 2019 at 20:37
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@Traveller my first application was done via the official old application portal and the current application was done via Gov.uk. had my biometric with TLScontact Ghana and never used any agent.– Apple juiceCommented Jul 19, 2019 at 20:45
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I also applied for the standard visitors visa in September and this time got the yellow sticker, like you mentioned. Before it was always green and stated "visa", not "entry clearance"– AnnaCommented Sep 25, 2019 at 5:19
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2 Answers
Several years ago, the EEA Member States introduced a uniform format visa vignette (a green coloured vignette, which all member states use). Unlike other Member States, the UK uses a different sticker for category D visas.
Uniform Format Visa (UFV).This vignette is common to all EU Member States. It is used for visa nationals coming to the UK as visitors or in transit (Category A, B or C)
United Kingdom Vignette. This is used for all other entry clearances (Category D), usually long-stay categories
An example of each vignette is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257789/examples-of-vignettes.pdf
Example of UK Category A, B, C vignette
Example of UK Category D vignette
You appear to have been given a Category D vignette.
answered Jul 19, 2019 at 21:23
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I just got visitor multivisa (C) on the vignette like for D category. Interesting))) Commented Sep 18, 2019 at 11:13
The Visa vignettes issued for UK visas document explains that there are two types of vignettes: “CAT C” (green with “visa”) and “CAT D” (yellow with “entry clearance”). Previously, ordinary visitors would get the green “CAT C” vignette, however:
UKVI stopped issuing CAT C vignettes for most visas in June 2019.
Since June 2019 the “CAT D” vignette (figure 2) is used for almost all categories including visit, employment, study and settlement”.
So, yes, almost everyone is getting the yellow “entry clearance” ones now, except for “limited circumstances”:
The CAT C vignette is only used to print visas where permission to enter is granted for 3 months (90 days) or less.
