Meghan Markle visits Chicago to finalize UK visa days before royal wedding
Only days away from her upcoming royal wedding, Meghan Markle paid a visit to her beloved America, and the reason wasn't really homesickness. Although the future royal might be relishing the deep dish pizza, she's gone to Chicago for a more practical purpose: to finalize her application for a UK visa.
According to reports by TMZ, Meghan arrived at the VFS Global UK Visa Application Centre on Thursday in Chicago, spending only 10 minutes in the office while wearing dark shades and a White Sox baseball cap to avoid drawing attention.
According to a Chicago Tribune source, Meghan landed at the airport at 11:30 a.m. Thursday and will be leaving town early Sunday evening. Chicago police provided her with physical security, but an actual escort was found missing, the source said. It is likely that the U.S. State Department would have taken her in agency vehicles to her hotel or wherever she was staying, the source added.
The State Department responded to the publication via email, saying, “The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security provides security details to certain foreign dignitaries and official guests while they are in the United States. The security we provide to these visiting dignitaries and guests is based on the level of threat they face in the United States."
They added further, "Extensive planning, analysis, and coordination with local, state, and other federal law enforcement is critical to ensuring that appropriate security measures are in place.We do not provide specific information about protective details.”
When filing for a visa, one must state the reason as to why they actually need it. In Meghan's case, it's likely that she'd apply for a family visa, and must have applied as a partner or spouse. The visa, after it's granted, which cannot go wrong in her case, requires her to marry or become a civil partner within six months of arriving in the United Kingdom.
Moreover, Meghan is said to have paid around $1,500 for “premium processing” of her application, which means she should be able to get her visa within a few days.
