• • Free movement for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens to the UK has now ended.
• • From 1 January 2021, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens (aside from Irish citizens) who want to move to the UK to live, work or study will need to meet specific requirements and apply for a visa before they arrive.
• • EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need a visa for visits up to six months. This includes holidays, short term study, limited business activities or family visits. EU nationals can seek permission to enter the UK as a visitor on arrival at port or use the e-gates. Guidance on what you can do in the UK as a standard visitor can be found here.
• • EU, EEA and Swiss citizens seeking to work in the UK, or visit or study for longer than six months, may need to apply for a visa before they travel to the UK.
• • You can check whether you require a UK visa by using the online tool: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
• • If you require a visa you can apply online at: https://www.gov.uk/apply-to-come-to-the-uk.
• • The vast majority of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who need to apply for a visa to come to the UK should be able to complete their entire application online using the UK Immigration: ID Check App to verify their identity.
• • This means they will not need to go to a Visa Application Centre (VAC), submit their passport or obtain a visa vignette prior to travel.
• • Current UK fees can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/visa-fees.
• • The processing times for applications to live, work or study in the UK vary depending on the visa you are applying for and the service available. Further details on waiting times can be found here.

Customers applying for a UK visa will benefit from digital improvements to the UK visa application process. You will be able to self-upload your supporting evidence via Desktop or Mobile, before attending your appointment at the Visa Application Centre.

This new process allows customers to prepare their set of supporting evidence in advance. This development is made available to customers using both our Standard and Priority Visa services.

If you wish to be assisted by our staff for the submission of your supporting evidence on the date of your visit to our Visa Application Centre, you will have to select an Assisted Service appointment for an additional fee of 20 GBP (+VAT).

Prior to sending any documentation to UK Visa and Immigration, applicants are strongly advised to make sure that the Courier company they are planning to use will deliver to Post Office Box addresses in the UK. Please note Parcelforce will not deliver to a UK Post Office Box address, and that supporting documents sent through them are liable to be destroyed.

Following a Supreme Court judgment in February the Home Office paused decision-making on some family applications. In particular, those failing to meet the minimum income threshold for British citizens sponsoring a non-EEA partner and non-EEA children.

The Immigration Rules will be changed on 10 August to reflect this ruling. Applications which were paused will be considered from that date.

If you have an enquiry about your application, please contact UK Visas and Immigration.

Customers applying for a UK visa will benefit from digital improvements to the UK visa application process. Supporting documents will be scanned whilst customers are at the visa application centre, and then given straight back immediately. These digital documents will then be sent securely to UKVI, with the passport, and visa officers will then consider the application in the usual way. This new process allows customers to retain their important supporting documents during the application process. This development is made available to customers using both our standard and Priority Visa services.

Apart from an applicant’s passport, all supporting documents will, where possible, be handed back at the Visa Application Centre after they have been scanned.

In order to avoid delays in the Visa Application Centre it is recommended that customers follow the instructions below:.

• • Bring your original passport (or travel document) and residence permit/national ID card (if applicable);


• • Bring A4 copies of all of your supporting documents. Copies should be of reasonably good quality to be readable when scanned. Use coloured copies if necessary;


• • If you would like to submit an old passport or a sponsor’s passport as supporting document, then you must provide copies of it as well;


• • Remove any staples, clips or pins from documents before submitting them.

Presenting the documents in the format set out above will allow us to scan them more quickly, return them and reduce waiting times at the Visa Application Centre.