UK to process visa applications within standard of 15 days: British High Commissioner

London, Oct 19: British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said that the United Kingdom is back on track and they will restart processing visa applications from India to the UK within the allocated 15 days.

"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," Alex Ellis said in a video message.

"The good news is that we are back on track. We have dealt with an unprecedented surge in demand for student visas which was up by 89% from 2021. 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," he said.

"We are doing that through a collective effort of our teams in Delhi, in the UK and all over the world. I am glad to say, I think we are now on track," said Ellis.

He urged applicants to apply for visas earlier.

"Don't forget, we have 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 the different services, including the priority visa service and the super priority visa service if you have a particular urgency," said Ellis.

He also advised the applicants to provide the information as requested.

"Make sure you provide the information requested, not just the information which you want to give. And together, I think we can get right down to the 15-day work service standard by the end of this year. That's my aim. So, good news, we are on track and I think we can get well on track over the next few weeks," added the British High Commissioner.

Twitterati reacted enthusiastically to the UK visa application update.

"AlexWEllis this update truly means a lot. My first priority visa was rejected in Sep 2022. Rectified the errors and applied again on oct 2022. Super delayed to join my work place in bermuda. 15 days timeline is such a relief," commented a Twitter user.

"Hi Alex Sir. Very nice to hear about the progress. Thanks for the update. I am trying for UK skilled worker visa for past few months have not worked out so far. Hopefully, the above progress will help me achieving it," wrote another.