In this blog, we will be discussing the visa delay being experienced by the, UK Home Office.
If you are thinking of booking your air ticket, then you should think again. There are heavy delays in visa processing being experienced by the US, UK, Canada, and the Schengen States citizens.
Recently Alex Ellis, Britain’s High Commissioner, apologised for the delays in visa processing and advised the public to buy their air ticket after getting their visas.
This year an extraordinary number of students are expected to join colleges in the UK, and according to Ellis, they are trying their best to issue the visas on time.
Ellis further apologised to all the people who have been affected because of these visa delays and the problem they had to face due to this delay.
So What Are The Reasons For The Visa Delays?
One of the basic reasons was the unpredictable demand for UK Visas post Covid. Secondly, due to the global events, especially the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What Is The UK Home Office Doing About It?
They are increasing their resources and training more people and are keeping open the priority visa service, which more people may need. In order to facilitate the visa service, people should make sure that they submit their proper paperwork. Also, the applicants should follow the guidelines strictly.
Furthermore, he also added that student visas are available on a priority and super priority basis and they are expecting high demand in the coming future, which is why candidates should apply for visas as soon as possible, as preparing documentation can take time.
According to a leading immigration expert, the average processing time for a UK visa is around two months. Furthermore, he also added that an additional fee of Rs 23,000 must be paid to get fast track visa.
After Omicron, foreign missions have been experiencing an increase in visa applications. VFS Global COO (South Asia) Prabuddha Sen had recently stated that unparalleled volumes between 20,000 to 23,000 visa applications are expected daily on average from India, increasing the travel demand.
During the pandemic, almost all missions in India reduced their staff by sending their people back to their home countries. When the demand increased, the missions were unprepared to manage the surge.
Therefore many people are losing their money on tickets and hotel confirmations, as it is to be submitted with visa applications for many countries. Consequently, when visas are not received, people have to pay massive amounts as cancellation charges.
This issue was brought to knowledge earlier this year by travel agents. However, the ministry of external affairs had raised the issue of ‘streamlining student visas to Indian nationals’ with countries such as the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, and Poland.
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