Improved UK Visa Services for Indian Nationals

The Immigration Minister James Brokenshire recently visited India for a short trip, following the Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK last year.

During the Immigration Minister’s trip he acknowledged that India is one of the UK’s largest visa markets and met with important UK visa customers from the education, travel and business sectors.

With the insight gained from these meetings, the UK government has now announced the following improvements to the UK visa services in India:

• Extending the same day, super-priority visa services to first time visitors and work visas.• Extending the 3 to 5 day priority visa service to visit, study and work visa routes.• New easier online application form that will make it easier for the applicant to apply for both UK and Schengen visas.• The launch of a new Visa Application Centre in Lucknow and Utter Pradesh.

It was not made clear as to when these changes will be implemented, but they should be in the process of commencing soon. We particularly welcome the extension of the priority service to Tier 2 applications, something that will be welcomed by our clients.

With the strong cultural and historic ties the UK has with India and the 17% increase in the number of visit visas issued last year, it is good to see the UK government taking a hands on approach in understanding its customers’ needs.