Tag Archives: UKVI

From March 1, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will expand the eligibility criteria for super-priority visas to all applicants applying for a visit or work visa. The eligibility criteria for 3-5 day priority visa will also be expanded, said UK’s Immigration Minister James Brokenshire. The new online application form will launch at the end of this month and applicants will be able to access it from www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa. The new improvements include a shorter visa application form; questions written in English and will be translated into Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati; option to review, edit and download partially completed application at any point before submitting; application fee displayed in local currency; mobile device friendly service, to allow applications to be completed on mobile phones or tablets; assistance for separate application for a Schengen visa, with a partially auto-completed Schengen application form available to download and print. Brokenshire, who is on a 5-day visit to India, also launched a new visa application centre (VAC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, the first in the state “India is one of the UK’s largest visa market and we continue to make improvements to the service to make it as easy as possible for our applicants to get a visa. Last year we saw a 17 per cent increase in the number of visit visas issued. We hope that this year we continue to see an increase in visitors from India and that these improvements prove useful to those applying for their visas,” said Brokenshire.

The UK Visas and Immigration office has informed that there will be changes in visa and immigration application fees over the next four years. Danielle Humphries, Entry Clearance Manager, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), informed that for 2016-17, UK Visas linked most closely to economic growth and prosperity, such as visitor, work and study visas will be restricted to an increase of 2 per cent. During the same period, fees for all sponsorship categories will be held at the current rates. There will be up to 25 per cent increase for settlement and nationality fees. There will be up to 33 per cent increase for optional premium services offered by the Home Office such as the super priority and priority visa services. The proposed maximum fee for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of six months or less is £95, as against the current maximum of £85. The proposed maximum fee for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of more than six months up to and including 12 months, calculated at fixed amount, is £200 as against the current maximum of £162. The current maximum for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of more than 12 months, calculated at annual rate, is £162 p.a. which has been proposed to increase to £200 p.a. “We are confident that our proposed fee increases strike the right balance between ensuring we continue to provide a competitive level of service and maintaining a fees structure that remains attractive to businesses, migrants and visitors,” Humphries said, adding, “We have no current plans to raise fees to the maximum amounts, and most individual fees will remain significantly below these levels.” …