Visa Extensions - Covid 19

In March of this year Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, announced unprecedented visa extensions in response to the impact of COVID-19 on overseas migrants who were unable to leave the UK due to self-isolation or travel restrictions, and whose visas were expiring between 24 January and 31 May 2020. Her announcement confirmed that those affected would be able to extend their visas until 31 May 2020 (subject to contacting the Home Office).

This concession was thereafter extended to include migrants whose visas will expire between 1 June and 31 July 2020. 

Currently, all eligible migrants with visas expiring between 24 January and 31 July 2020 can have their leave extended until 31 July 2020. 

To secure this extension, eligible migrants must contact the Home Office by completing its online form. 

It should be noted that those who have already contacted the Home Office, and are currently benefiting from the previous concession, will automatically have their leave extend until 31 July 2020. 

Any immigration queries related to Coronavirus should be directed to the Coronavirus Immigration Help Centre by email (in English) at CIH@homeoffice.gov.uk or by phone on 0800 678 1767 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). 

Additionally, it should be noted that those overseas migrants with visas expiring before 31 July 2020 may now benefit from an in-country switch to a long-term visa category. For those who wish to discuss their eligibility for an in-country visa switch, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Please note that the information in this blog is current at the date and time of posting. The situation regarding policy and guidance based on the COVID-19 pandemic is subject to change at short notice. We shall be monitoring all aspects of UK immigration which may be impacted by the coronavirus closely, so please do keep updated with further blogs and articles which we will be posting on this site.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

I submitted by visa application – when can I attend my appointment?

If you have submitted an application for a UK visa in the last three months, you will likely have been unable to book an appointment to enroll your biometrics. As a result of this, your application will not have been processed.

Making a visa application from outside the UK

If you are making an application from abroad, some visa centres have begun to reopen. This includes Visa Application Centres in:

• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Berlin
• Brisbane
• Canberra
• Chongqing
• Dusseldorf
• Fiji
• Guangzhou
• Hong Kong
• Kuala Lumpur
• Melbourne
• Minsk
• Munich
• Perth
• Shanghai
• Sydney
• Taipei
• Ukraine

This list is subject to frequent change. More centres abroad are planning to reopen in the coming weeks.

Making a visa application from inside the UK

A number of Sopra Steria service points reopened on 1 June. This included those at:

• Birmingham
• Birmingham Premium Lounge
• Chelmsford
• Croydon
• Exeter
• Leeds
• London Mark Lane Premium Lounge
• London Victoria
• Manchester Fountain Street Enhanced Service Point
• Manchester Premium Lounge
• Sheffield
• Southampton

These centres are operating a reduced service to comply with social distancing rules. Appointments are currently only available to those who had already booked their appointments before the lockdown was announced and whose appointments were cancelled. Sopra Steria will contact you by email to rebook your appointment. You will not be charged again for attending an appointment that you have already paid for.

If you submitted your application prior to the lockdown but were unable to book an appointment or you submitted your application after the lockdown began, you will not yet be able to book a replacement appointment. As the Home Office work through the backlog of applications, they will start opening the application centres to applicants who fall into this category. There is currently no definitive guideline as to when this will happen.

There is no guidance from the Home Office as to when the Priority and Super Priority services will start to operate. All applications submitted since they were suspended in late March will be considered under the standard processing timeframes.

Please note that the information in this blog is current at the date and time of posting. The situation regarding policy and guidance based on the COVID-19 pandemic is subject to change at short notice.





The information in this article is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this article. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.