UK High Commissioner's "Quick Update" On Visa For Indians

The United Kingdom is on track to get back to processing Indian visa applications within its standard 15-day period, said Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India.  

"Namaste, quick update on visas. As you know the combination of an unprecedented surge in demand for travel from India to the UK combined with the effects of COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, meant that our visa processing got well outside of a 15-day working standard," Mr Ellis said in a video message.

The High Commissioner underscored that they are now "getting back on track" and dealt with a great surge in demand for student visas, which is 89% up on last year.

We are on track to get back to processing 🇮🇳 to 🇬🇧 #visa applications within our standard of 15 days.

👉 Student numbers ⬆️ by 89% since last year.
👉 Skilled workers visas bring processed faster
👉 Focus on improving visitor visa processing times.

A long way come, more to go. pic.twitter.com/cjX26mRxs8

— Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) October 18, 2022

"We're turning right off skilled worker visas very fast. And now we are focusing on visitor visas to get them back inside 15 days. We're doing that through a collective effort of our teams in Delhi, in the UK and all over the world. And I'm glad to say I think we're now on track," he said.

He urged people to apply early - which can be as early as three months in advance.

"And don't forget we've got good availability in our visa application centres as well. You can help by applying early. You can apply three months in advance. You can use different services, including the priority visa service and the super priority visa service if you have a particular urgency," he said, signing off the video.