Hello,
My wife and I will be traevling to Thailand and China over the christmas/new years and i wanted to ask when should we apply for my wife's visa to china/thailand and maybe the UK (transiting through london). I am an American citizen and she's Jordanian. For myself i don't need a visa to the UK or thailand but since we are staying less than 72 hours in china i will be transiting through the visa waiver program. My question is mainly for my wife, as i mention she's jordanian and i have to apply for thailand visa and Chinese mainly since we are staying in those countries. since some visa applications require to submit the application few months before departure (so the visa is valid at travel time) when would you recommand submitting those applications and in what order? china, thailand and then UK? in the UK we have a 9 hour layover and would love to go out for a few hours to see the city but its not a complete MUST but a nice add on to our trip.

thanks for your help!

If the validity is the same for each visa (valid for 3 months from date of issue) then I would apply in the order travelled.

I personally would not rely on transit without visa programs, as you may have to unnecessarily explain this to a gate agent.

If a plane goes mechanical and you get stuck somewhere, it's also nice to have, as opposed to worrying about it.