UK visa application centres around the world have been closed due to COVID-19. This has prevented visa applicants from enrolling their biometrics. As a result numerous applications have been placed on hold.
Sopra Steria has announced that from 1 June 2020, some of the UKVCAS centres will start to re-open. This seems to be limited to the centres which are not based in libraries. A list can be found here.
As a first step, applicants who had already booked appointments, but had them postponed due to the lockdown will be able to re-book. As only a few centres are opening they may find they cannot get an appointment in their preferred location and will need to decide how far they are prepared to travel.
The centres will have reduced capacity due to the need to maintain social distancing. Inevitably it will take some time to clear the backlog. It is still not possible to book new appointments at the moment, but hopefully this will then follow in due course.
Meanwhile VFS and TLS have also announced that, subject to local restrictions, they will start opening some of the overseas centres from 1 June 2020. Again there will be limited capacity and it will take time for the backlog to be cleared.
This applies to VFS Visa Application Centres in Australia (Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney); China (Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai); Fiji (Suva); Hong Kong; Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur); Taiwan (Taipei) and Thailand (Bangkok). Services are also resuming at the TLS centres in Belarus and Ukraine on 1 June and in Germany (Berlin, Dusseldorf and Munich) from 4 June. For more information check the VFS/TLS website for your country as appropriate.
All priority and super priority services remain suspended. Therefore it is still only possible to submit applications using the standard service. Applicants should also expect to receive an email from UKVI stating that they cannot expect the usual processing times to apply.
English language testing is also slowly resuming, subject to local restrictions. For more details on whether a test is available in your area, you need to check the providers’ websites: IELTS, Pearson and LanguageCert.
This article is from the May 2020 issue of Employment and Immigration Law Update, our monthly newsletter for HR professionals. To download the latest issue, please visit the newsletter section of our website. For further information please contact a member of Birketts’ Immigration Team.
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at May 2020.