How to Chase a Delayed UK Visa Application Richmond Chambers

Table of Content

• Ukrainian refugee families could get host who failed DBS check, says council
• Priority services – get a faster decision
• * Delays in out of country applications
• Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK
• Switch to or extend a Temporary Worker visa
• Services
• UK government admits to processing delays for Ukraine visas

The UK government is struggling to keep up with this influx of illegal entrants and short-term holding facilities, such as Manston in Kent, are holding far more people than they have the capacity for. The facility, which has the capacity to hold 1600 people at a time, at one point held 4000. If you’re relatively certain of your visa being renewed then the additional delay is unlikely to cause you much concern, although it may interfere with your intended holiday plans. If so, in this article, our immigration solicitors look at UK visa options for artists and the global...

The invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact on the UK immigration system. Global mobility professionals recruiting or moving staff into the UK should be aware of the following issues and considerations. Take a look at our services and get in touch with us today for more information. My Lawyer, Sallie Davies, is very knowledgeable and competent and I have implicit trust in her.

Ukrainian refugee families could get host who failed DBS check, says council

RLegal has provided our Group with excellent legal advice for over a decade. Their service had been personal, detailed, timely, and, most importantly, has resulted in successful applications in every case undertaken. Ensuring that your application is presented properly will minimise any further delays once the processing of your case takes place. If you would like RLegal Solicitors to represent you in your UK immigration application, please get in touch via any of the methods on our web site. The waiting time ends for all applications when you get a letter or an email with a decision on your case. Processing for business visas can take longer than other categories due to the complexity of the application documentation and evidence.

The delay in family settlement applications will have a serious impact on spouses, partners and children of British and UK-settled sponsors, who will have to wait until their applications are approved before they can travel to the UK. Families waiting to travel to the UK may face difficulties in getting their children into the UK before the new school year in September and avoiding disruption to their education. Foreign nationals who apply to come and live permanently in the UK with their British partner, are now facing longer delays and having to wait six months to get a decision from the UK government. Processing times start when using the ID Document Check app, or when submitted online or if using post, when documents are received. If you are required to provide fingerprints the processing time starts once fingerprints are scanned and received.

Priority services – get a faster decision

Foster said there was a separate team working on “ensuring dispatch”, but said the government was working on creating “a fully online”, automated system next month, which would “resolve that particular issue”. While there have been 330,000 work visas issued this year to June, sectors like the hospitality industry and adult social care are struggling to fill roles. The Home Office control the application process and it is hard to have sympathy for it now having to focus so many resources on the Ukrainian schemes it only recently put in place. Many people will have carefully planned the date of submitting their application and made plans to move to the UK shortly after it was granted. This might mean having already sold their home abroad, having given up a job, or having enrolled their child in a new school in the UK following what they reasonably expected to be their arrival date.

A general study visa is suitable for a longer course of study in the UK as long as the student has a confirmed place on a course and is sponsored by a licensed university or college. The Skilled Worker visa, for instance, is open to non-UK residents with a job offer from a licensed sponsor for skilled employment in the UK. The best way to avoid this is to check your application thoroughly and ensure that you have all the necessary documentation to hand before you apply. You should usually receive it within 7 to 10 days of getting your decision letter from the Home Office saying that you can remain in the UK. If you are applying under the Windrush Scheme read the Windrush Scheme guidance and the latest correspondence on the work of the Home Office in relation to Windrush. We are based in the legal epicentre of London, just across the road from the Royal Courts of Justice in order to ensure we get the best results for our clients.

* Delays in out of country applications

For example, partner visa applications from outside the UK, which usually take 12 weeks to process, are currently taking up to 24 weeks to process from the date of biometric enrolment at a visa application centre. Please note, if an entry clearance , leave to remain or ILR application is straightforward then normally there are more then 90% chance that it will be processed within service standards. Since March 2022, UKVI has increased the service standard for entry clearance applications due to Ukraine Scheme. If there is delay in UK visa processing of straightforward or complex (not-straightforward) application, then the UKVI will inform the applicant.

However, the Immigration Law Practitioners Association believes that the current delays are “of an entirely different nature”, not least IT problems. Whilst processing times can vary greatly depending on the circumstances of the case, the volume of applications received at any one time, and the current Home Office staffing levels, what follows below are the current rough guidelines. The Home Office is struggling to meet its service standards for the processing of applications both within and outside the UK.

The service standard is to decide a straightforward super-priority non-settlement entry clearance UK visa application by next working day (24-hours). Since March 2022, UKVI has suspended super-priority visa services for new study and work visa applications. However, applicants can still use the super priority service for visitor visa applications. The government website specifies that the waiting time for Graduate visa applications starts when you’ve applied online and either attended your appointment at a visa service centre or submitted your documents using the ID Check app. It further specifies that those switching to a Start-up visa or switching to or extending a Health and Care Worker visa should have a decision within 3 weeks once an application is made online.

UKVI-approved test providers have declared that they are pulling out of Russia and securing an appointment in Russia and neighbouring countries is extremely difficult. UK visa applicants residing in Russia also require TB screening in authorised clinics, and here, too, appointments are severely delayed. The UK government has recently enacted legislation giving it the power to impose visa penalties on applications from nationals of a country that the UK specifies as having taken action that gives rise to a threat to international peace and security. During the passage of the legislation, ministers stated that they intended to use these powers in respect of Russia immediately once the legislation was passed. This has not yet happened, but regardless, there is, in general, no legally enforceable timeframe during which the Home Office is required to process a UK visa application.

Switch to or extend a Temporary Worker visa

Since March 2022, the settlement visa processing time after biometrics from outside the UK has increased to 24 weeks as UKVI is prioritizing Ukraine Scheme. The service standard is to decide a straightforward priority non-settlement entry clearance UK visa application within 5 working days (1-week). Since March 2022, UKVI has suspended priority (non-settlement) visa services for study and work visa applications. However, applicants can still use the priority service for visitor visa applications.

Applicants who apply from within the UK, can stay here until they have been given a decision, so long as they applied before the expiry of their last visa. If you intend to visit the UK to get married, you should generally apply for a Marriage Visitor visa. The Family visa will generally allow you to join certain family members who already live in the UK if you wish to remain in the country for more than 6 months, such as spouses. 4 to 17 years old wishing to study at an independent school should apply for a child student visa. A short-term study visa is suitable for a 6 month stay in the UK to attend a course.