The short answer
For a UK VFS self upload, complete the UKVI form first, then upload the papers in eight sections in this order: PT, FE, PB, SE, LE, AC, OT, ED. Split long papers into PDFs of five pages or fewer without changing a page, name each file by its slot code and put the signed cover letter first in OT.
In Bangla
UK ভিসার VFS সেলফ-আপলোডে আগে UKVI ফর্ম পূরণ করে ফি দিন, তারপর আটটি সেকশনে এই ক্রমে কাগজ আপলোড করুন: PT, FE, PB, SE, LE, AC, OT ও ED। লম্বা কাগজ কোনো পাতা না বদলে পাঁচ পাতার PDF-এ ভাগ করুন, ফাইলের নাম স্লট কোড দিয়ে শুরু করুন, আর সই করা কভার লেটার OT-এর প্রথমে দিন।
Key takeaways
- The UK self upload at VFS Dhaka has eight sections, uploaded in the order PT, FE, PB, SE, LE, AC, OT, ED.
- On a real file submitted on 28 October 2026 the slots ran PT1–PT2, FE1–FE11, PB1–PB4, SE1–SE4, LE1, AC1–AC5 and OT1–OT3, with ED only when education matters.
- Every file on that submission was a PDF of five pages or fewer, so long statements and tax returns were split in page order.
- Employer letters and the host's invitation go in SE, the applicant's own company papers in PB, and the signed cover letter first in OT.
- Splitting and ordering pages is fine; changing, cropping or retyping any page issued by someone else is not.
The UK VFS self upload asks your team to place every supporting paper in a section, in a fixed order, before the client's appointment. Get the order wrong and the officer hunts for the bank statement; get it right and the file reads like a story.
This playbook uses the sections, slot codes and order from a real UK Standard Visitor file our team submitted through VFS Dhaka on 28 October 2026. No personal details from that file appear here: only where each kind of paper went, how files were named and split, and the mistakes worth avoiding.
What is the VFS self upload for a UK visa?
It is the step where the applicant's supporting documents are uploaded to VFS's portal, section by section, after the UKVI online form has been completed and the visa fee paid. The applicant then gives biometrics at the visa centre in Gulshan. Officers read the uploaded papers, so the upload is the file the decision is made on.
Order matters because the officer reads the sections in sequence. The form comes first and is done on the UKVI site; check the centre address on the VFS booking page, since it has moved before. VFS also sells a document check on self uploads for ৳2,000 (VFS Dhaka premium services); read that page for what the check covers before you offer it to clients.
The eight section codes and what they hold
The portal groups papers under eight two-letter codes. Upload them in the order below, which is the order the sections appeared on the 28 October file.
| Order | Code | Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PT | Passport / Travel Document | Current passport, old passports, national ID |
| 2 | FE | Financial Evidence | Bank statements, solvency certificate, tax papers, proof of where large credits came from |
| 3 | PB | Proof of Business | The applicant's own company papers: trade licence, incorporation, proof of trading |
| 4 | SE | Sponsors / Employment | Employer letters and payslips, and the papers of anyone inviting or paying for the applicant |
| 5 | LE | Life Events | Marriage, birth and other civil-status papers, translated |
| 6 | AC | Accommodation – Permanent / Temporary | Host's tenancy or ownership papers, hotel bookings |
| 7 | OT | Other | Signed cover letter first, then itinerary and flight reservation, then anything else |
| 8 | ED | Educational Evidence | Only when education is part of the case |
What order did the 28 October file use?
The file ran PT1, PT2, then FE1 to FE11, PB1 to PB4, SE1 to SE4, LE1, AC1 to AC5 and OT1 to OT3. Education evidence was not part of that case, so ED was left empty. Not every client fills every slot: a salaried applicant with no business leaves PB empty, and a hotel-only trip leaves AC1 empty.
| Slot | What goes in it |
|---|---|
PT1 | Current passport: photo page first, then every page with a visa or stamp, up to five pages |
PT2 | Remaining visa pages, old passports and the national ID card |
FE1–FE4 | Personal bank statement for the last six months, split in page order into files of five pages or fewer |
FE5 | Bank solvency certificate, with any advice of foreign remittance |
FE6–FE7 | Income tax return, split in page order |
FE8 | End of the return, the acknowledgement receipt and the tax certificate |
FE9 | Other tax papers: TIN, earlier years' certificates, a tax practitioner's income certificate |
FE10 | Letters from the people who sent large credits, each with their ID |
FE11 | Transfer records matched to those credits, and any other assets |
PB1 | Business registration: trade licence with English translation, incorporation, Form XII, Memorandum |
PB2–PB3 | A second business, or more company papers |
PB4 | Proof the business trades: company bank statement, contracts, website pages |
SE1 | Employer's letter with position, salary and approved leave; salary slips; office ID |
SE2 | Invitation or sponsor letter, with the host's proof of status or study |
SE3 | Host's or sponsor's UK immigration status: eVisa, BRP or British passport |
SE4 | Host's or sponsor's passport, and the sponsor's bank statement |
LE1 | Marriage, birth or relationship papers, with English translation |
AC1 | Host's tenancy or ownership papers, key pages only |
AC2–AC5 | Hotel bookings in the applicant's name, in date order |
OT1 | The signed cover letter |
OT2 | Day-by-day itinerary and flight reservation |
OT3 | Everything else: event registrations, an earlier refusal letter, travel insurance |
How should you name the files?
Start every file name with its slot code, then a few plain words: FE1_bank-statement-part-1.pdf, FE5_solvency-certificate.pdf, OT1_cover-letter.pdf. Files then sort themselves into upload order on any computer, a second caseworker can check the pack at a glance, and nobody uploads the solvency letter into PB by mistake.
- Use the code exactly as the portal shows it, capital letters and number, with no space:
SE2, notse 2. - Keep names short and in English, with hyphens instead of spaces and no brackets, slashes or Bangla characters.
- Number the parts of a split paper in page order: part 1, part 2, part 3.
- Leave clients' full names, passport numbers and phone numbers out of file names. The papers already carry them, and file names get copied into chats.
- Keep a one-page list of what went in each slot. It answers the client's questions and lets the cover letter point the officer to the right slot.
Splitting long papers without changing them
Every file on the 28 October submission was a PDF of five pages or fewer, so long papers were split. Check the portal's current size and page limits before you export, because limits can change. What never changes is the rule for the pages themselves: you may split, order and merge them, but never crop, retype, recolour or redraw a page someone else issued.
A six-month statement of eighteen pages becomes four files, FE1 to FE4, cut in page order with nothing skipped. A tax return runs across FE6, FE7 and the start of FE8, with the acknowledgement receipt and the certificate at the end of FE8. The passport works the other way: the photo page and the stamped pages are merged into PT1, and what does not fit goes into PT2.
Scan in colour, upright, with the whole page in frame. A bank PDF that asks for a password has to be re-issued without one, because a file the officer cannot open counts as a missing paper. Before you split a statement, read it properly; our playbook on checking a bank statement for a visa file covers what to look for.
What goes where: the judgement calls
Most slots are obvious. These are the ones that trip up experienced caseworkers.
- Employer letters go in
SE, notPB.PBis only for a business the applicant owns. A salaried manager's papers all belong inSE1. - The host's invitation letter went in
SE2, notLE.LEholds civil-status papers such as a nikah nama or a birth certificate. - The cover letter is first in
OT. The applicant signs it and writes the date by hand on the day of signing, never an earlier date. - Large credits are explained in
FE, right after the tax papers. Payers' letters inFE10, matched transfer records inFE11, so the officer finds the explanation beside the money. - The flight reservation sits with the itinerary in
OT2. It should be a real reservation on hold or a refundable fare; our post on dummy ticket risks explains why. EDstays empty unless education is part of the case, such as a student applicant or a degree that explains the job.
Common mistakes on the UK self upload
- A twenty-page statement uploaded as one file, or split out of page order.
- The cover letter buried in the middle of
OT, or uploaded unsigned. - Old passports left out, losing travel history the applicant actually has.
- A paper in Bangla with no certified English translation in the same PDF.
- The same solvency certificate uploaded in
FE5and again inOT3. - Photos taken at an angle on a desk instead of flat scans.
- Hotel bookings for nights that do not match the itinerary or the leave letter.
- Payslips placed in
FEwhile the employer letter sits inSE, so the salary evidence is split across two sections.
A pack routine for every UK file
Run the same sequence on every UK visitor file, so any caseworker can pick up any file.
- 1
Finish the form first
The UKVI form is completed, read by the applicant and paid before anything is uploaded. Form answers and papers must agree, so lock the form before you build the pack.
- 2
Collect papers by slot
Use the slot table as the client checklist: ask for papers by what they prove, then file each one under its slot as it arrives.
- 3
Scan, split and merge
Colour, upright, whole page, five pages or fewer per file on the 28 October pattern, cut in page order with nothing changed.
- 4
Name code first
Every file starts with its slot code, so the folder sorts itself into upload order.
- 5
Second-person check
Another caseworker opens every file in order and checks it against the slot list before the upload.
- 6
Upload in section order
PT, FE, PB, SE, LE, AC, OT, then ED if used, one section at a time, ticking off the list as you go.
Visolv does this assembly for you: it places each paper in its slot, splits long papers in page order, names every file code first and hands you a zip with a manifest, without altering a page. You can see the pack screen in how it works, and our guide to visa agency software covers the rest of the file. For the client's side of the UK route, see our UK visa from Bangladesh guide.
A well-ordered upload does not make a weak file strong. It does make a strong file easy to read, and that is the part of the decision your agency controls.
Frequently asked questions
What do the VFS codes PT, FE, PB, SE, LE, AC, OT and ED mean?
They are the eight sections of the UK self-upload at VFS Dhaka: PT for passport and travel documents, FE for financial evidence, PB for proof of business, SE for sponsors and employment, LE for life events such as marriage and birth, AC for accommodation, OT for other papers including the cover letter, and ED for educational evidence when it is relevant.
How many pages can each file have on the UK self upload?
On the real file our team submitted through VFS Dhaka on 28 October 2026, every file was a PDF of five pages or fewer, so longer papers were split in page order across several slots. Portal limits can change, so check the current size and page limits on the portal before you export the pack, and never drop a page to make a file fit.
Where does the employer letter go on the VFS self upload?
In SE, the sponsors and employment section, usually as SE1 together with salary slips and the office ID card. PB, proof of business, is only for a company the applicant owns, such as a trade licence, incorporation papers and Form XII. Putting an employer letter in PB is a common mistake that makes the officer look for it in the wrong place.
Where should the cover letter go in the upload?
Put the signed cover letter first in the Other section, as OT1, followed by the itinerary and flight reservation in OT2 and any remaining papers in OT3. The applicant should sign it and write the date by hand on the day they actually sign. An unsigned cover letter, or one buried among other papers, is easy for an officer to miss.
Do we fill the UKVI form before the VFS upload?
Yes. The UKVI online form is completed and the fee paid first, then the appointment is booked and the papers uploaded on the VFS portal. Because officers compare the form with the papers, finish and check the form before building the pack, so every income figure, date and address in the upload matches what the applicant declared.
Can we upload phone photos instead of PDFs?
Every file on the 28 October submission was a PDF, and a clear PDF is easier for an officer to read than a photo taken at an angle. Convert phone photos into flat, upright, colour PDFs with the whole page in frame. Where a bank or employer issues its own PDF, upload that original rather than a photo of a printout.
The Visolv team
Editorial team, Easital Technologies (Dhaka)
Visolv is software for visa agencies, made in Dhaka by Easital Technologies: an AI caseworker that reads and checks every paper in a client's file, writes the drafts and builds the upload pack under the agency's own brand. We write about what we see in real visa files from Bangladesh.
