Contribution by Branko Milisković
July 2015
Two months ago I received an e-mail from Dr Amy Bryzgel, an US-American art historian and researcher, living and working in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, whom I met in Belgrade, Serbia in July 2013, and gave an interview about my performance practice for her upcoming book Performing East. Since then, we were in occasional e-mail contacts and I have also included part of her text about my work in a catalogue for my solo exhibition ATTENTION! HERE I AM (Nov/Dec 2014, G12HUB). Amy’s invitation to participate in a conference about performance art at the University of Aberdeen in October 2015 made me surprised and flattered since I’ve never been to UK before. The entire arrangement sounded almost perfect. My travel, lodging and artist wage would be provided, so what more an artist could ask for?
I knew there would be some obstacles regarding my UK visa, therefor instead of negotiating about the conference and performance, we had to start working through the entry clearance procedure for UK visa straight away. Amy told me that she is going to write a letter of invitation, stating the exact reason for my travel. The very first issue we faced was, what kind of visa I would need to apply for? Since I was invited to give a performance/talk and get payed for that job, I would need to choose between the variety of possible visas, and after a short period of time, we both confirmed it would definitely be so called Permitted Engagement Visa. The entire negotiation with Amy turned into an administration, passing through all possible bureaucratic requirements, constantly doubting and guessing weather some requirement would mean exactly and strictly as stated or would there be any way to avoid it and make the entire process less stressful. The main problem was not the fact that I have to apply strictly online. I am internet maniac and have no issues filling in the forms and answering even the most hideous questions. My biggest concern was how to obtain some of the paper work. I’ve already done various visa procedures and numerous applications in the past and eventually survived all of them. I used to live in the Netherlands for three years and in Germany for four and have been travelling across Europe, to Russia and Israel and have never violated any immigration rules. My passport is full of different visas and border control stamps and I never received any penalty nor restriction. While I was waiting to receive an official letter of invitation from the University of Aberdeen there was one major issue causing my anxiety to grow bigger and bigger. It was the money issue. Now everybody would think, ok what’s the problem if all expenses would be covered by the organiser, in this case, by the University of Aberdeen, right? According to the list of important requirements and documents that should be obtained, there was a requirement that each applicant should provide the bank statements for the period of last six months. My problem was the fact that being a freelance artist, I don’t have regular monthly income that could be proven via bank statements. Therefore I immediately failed to fulfil this main visa requirement, to show that I am professional artist. I also failed to show that I would have enough money on my bank account to support my trip and daily costs in Aberdeen, even though all my expenses would be covered. I would consider myself being professional artist with various engagements, but in other hand, underemployed with no regular income, no valuable possessions, no long term bank credits to insure that I will definitely return to the country of origin, no driver licence nor car, no real estate on my name, no fixed employment. I am not married and have no children. Clearly enough I am so free, like a bloody sparrow, and therefore the most suspicious applicant. Their biggest fear is that I might use this opportunity and immigrate, sucking on UK public money, residing illegally somewhere in the countryside. In order to ask for some support, Amy and I separately contacted Serbian Embassy in London and nobody ever responded to our inquiries. We didn’t ask for any particular help, just a written letter of support from the embassy, which should be supporting and representing its people, culture and politics abroad, right? I have also contacted British Council in Belgrade and asked the same question. Nobody ever responded.
August 19, 2015
Two days ago I finally received the official letter of invitation from the University of Aberdeen, and as soon as I saw it in my post box, I went immediately to print out my application form and to finish the rest. I thought it would be no big deal just to print it out, pay an application fee by debit card and book an appointment. But it was all very confusing since the beginning. I filed in my application form, and the next step was the payment. On the official webpage of UKVI it was stated that the fee would be €121,00, but once I started my payment procedure it turned out to be €126,00. I was not sure how much money I was holding on my debit card. Once I submitted my application form online I was informed by a server that I have only three hours to complete the payment, otherwise everything will be lost and I would have to start the application procedure all over again. I rushed to the local bank to put some extra cash on my bank account, to make sure there is enough. I was cuing over an hour in the bank and returned to the office to finally complete the payment. It was so frustrating, I just couldn’t believe that UKVI was counting my time.
On August 19, I had my UKVI appointment at Teleperformance agency at the Airport City in New Belgrade. I arrived well in advance caring with me a bag full of art books, catalogues and press material as well as the entire application documents including my passport. I got inside and there was nobody except me and some employees at the time. Soon, I was invited to come in, expecting that they are going to interview me, asking all possible questions. However, they only collected my documents, checked if everything is in order, and when I asked what am I going to do with all the books and catalogues I was advised to bring for consideration, they just told me that their job is only to collect my paperwork including my passport, take my fingerprints, scan my eyries and send everything to Warsaw where UK visa hub is based. They told me that I will be waiting for 15 working days or 21 days in total, but that period also can’t be guaranteed. It means it can take even longer depending on each case individually. I left the office totally squashed and puzzled.
September 2, 2015
Today is the 10th business day since my UK visa application has been submitted. I just can’t explain how terrible and frustrating the entire process is. One of the most irritant things is that awful feeling that you are unable to get information regarding your visa status. Nobody knows for sure, or nobody wants to tell you. My passport has been literary confiscated since August 19 and still I don’t have any precise information when the entire process will be done and how long it will take for my passport to be delivered back. In the meantime I was invited to come to Berlin for a festival and I already booked my flight for September 12.
This is how an automatic answer by UKVI looks like:
Dear Branko Miliskovic,
Thank you for contacting the UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service. With regard to your query, please be advised, we can only provide general information as well as updates on the status of an application. We act in a non advisory capacity. We understand that you would like to know about the status of your application to come to the UK.
I have tracked the status of your application and found that it is waiting to be assessed by an Entry Clearance Officer. We will contact you once a decision has been made or, if necessary, during the consideration of your application.
Each application is subject to an individual assessment and processing times may vary, hence applicants are requested to be patient and wait for the processing to be completed.
You can check how long you will have to wait for a decision on your visa application in your country (if you applied from outside the UK) by entering your details at the following link: ttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/about-our-services However, please note that actual processing times may vary depending on a range of factors.
We have service level standards for processing UK visa applications. We will process 90% of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98% within 6 weeks and 100% within 12 weeks of the application (biometric taken) date; and 95% of settlement applications within 12 weeks of the biometric taken date and 100% within 24 weeks of the application (biometric taken) date.
Please note that we define 1 week as 5 working days. For any further details, or should you need to contact us again please refer to our website at https://ukvi-international.faq-help.com/, select appropriate country, click next and then select “E-Mail form” and complete as instructed. We will aim to come back to you within 1 day.
Kind regards,
Scott
UK Visas and Immigration International Enquiry Service
September 5, 2015
There is one thing that makes me very upset. It’s a completely impersonal system, dealing via third part agencies, such as Teleperformance, so if you go to the UK embassy they will tell you that they are not dealing with visas so you have to go through the agency to submit your documents including a passport, pay the fee in advance and hope it will be ready within three weeks time. The problem is that they give you a period of three weeks only as a statistic information but that also DOESN’T mean that your documents and passport will be returned during that period of time. All means of communication are incredibly obscure and automatically generated, even the calls. You are going to talk with an automat for as long as possible and you will be charged a fortune. I mean, to be completely honest, even if you commit a crime, you are allowed to engage a lawyer and have presumably a fair trial, right? Here, you are not allowed to complain, you can’t talk to anybody except the person working at the entrance of Teleperformance agency and that person knows nothing, or is it just a part of the game. So whatever you are going to ask, you are not going to get any precise and concrete informations. If you ask how long it will take for a passport to be delivered, she/he will tell you, it MAY take about three days. But no, that clearly doesn’t mean it will be there even the forth day. They always say, you will be contacted by your local Teleperformance office.
My passport is out of my hands and I terribly depend on their mercy. It blows my mind! It’s my passport, my only travel document! I might be able to understand that I have to give my passport away if I am already in UK applying to extend my residence permit, but since I am not even there and I am not applying for any settlement or study visa, I DON’T WANT TO BE DETAINED IN MY OWN COUNTRY BY SOME OTHER COUNTRY!
In the last three months I went through a number of very stressful moments. I became very anxious and now I am even facing the approaching moment which may reveal that I won’t be able to travel to Berlin because they won’t be able to return my passport back in time.
It can’t be sure whether the visa will be granted to me or not.
It can’t be sure how long it will take to process my visa request.
It can’t be sure when my passport will be returned.
I am afraid it can’t be even sure if the passport will be returned, at all.
The entire procedure is shameful and humiliating. It’s like a computer game. Several levels and you never know what you may expect when you finish one level. To make the entire situation even more stupid, they have stated that if for any reason one would like to request his/her passport urgently back, it would mean that the entire process will be terminated and application fee will not be refunded. But anyone is encouraged to re-apply at any time. Of course, to pay every time €126,00 or more and to wait endlessly with passport being confiscated.
I really don’t know what to do if I don’t get my passport before Saturday…
September 8, 2015
Today, surprisingly enough, I received an e-mail stating that my visa request has been accessed giving no information whether I have been rejected or granted.
Reference: GWFXXXXXXX
Dear MILISKOVIC BRANKO,
UK Visas & Immigration has now assessed your UK visa application and made a decision. Your documents and the decision will be sent back to the either the UK Visa Application Centre where you applied, where we will contact you by e-mail over the next few days to collect them, or if you are using the courier return service, will be sent directly back to the address you provided.
Please note that TLScontact does not know the outcome of the assessment and has played no role in the decision-making process.
Kind regards,
TLScontact
UK Visas & Immigration
September 9, 2015
Today I received another e-mail from UKVI stating:
Dear MILISKOVIC BRANKO,
Your passport and any returned supporting documentation have now arrived back at the TLScontact UK.
Visa Application Centre.
Collection in Person
I immediately went there to collect my passport as if it was the most important thing in my entire life and it was sealed in a plastic DHL bag. They asked me to sign paper that I have collected my document and they didn’t say anything else. I got out, took my keys, ripped off a plastic bag and opened my passport.
UK visa sticker was finally in my passport !
August 19, 2020
Post Scriptum: Going through this administrative diary, five years later, made me realise how much I was worried about some completely ridiculous details. However, this harsh experience eventually gave me a courage to apply for other visas, such as Canadian and US.
__________________________________________________________
Branko Milisković (b.1982, Belgrade, Serbia), Serbian performance artist, studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade; graduated BFA from Royal Academy of Art, The Hague and MFA from Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg. His works have been shown at prestigious performance festivals, theatres, galleries, museums and residences in Italy, France, Serbia, Poland, Israel, Croatia, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Bulgaria, UK, Canada and USA.
__________________________________________________________
ENTRY CLEARANCE by Branko Milisković is a contribution by invitation, to Tanja Ostojić’s Misplaced Women? project.
Edited (2015/2020) and first published by: Tanja Ostojić at the Misplaced Women? Project blog, August 30, 2020.
Photos: Branko Milisković, Blazej Marczak and Amy Bryzgel
Please see directly related — Misplaced Man? Performance in Aberdeen Airport – Contribution by Amy Bryzgel to the Misplaced Women? project, October 29, 2015.
__________________________________________________________
Misplaced Women? 