Visa to the UK during the coronavirus pandemic

Posted by Avisa:   27.03.2020

Due to the situation in the world, Ukraine has introduced quarantine measures throughout the country, which are directly related to movements within and outside the country.

The same situation exists in European countries except for the UK so far. The state of the Country has long hesitated to introduce tough measures to contain the epidemic.  People over the age of 70 are being urged not to leave their homes unnecessarily.  People who came from the hotbeds of coronavirus spread and those who have symptoms of SARS are being told self-isolate for 14 days. After a wave of criticism of these measures, the government has tightened quarantine measures as of March 24, 2020. We would also like to note that so far there has been no information that the UK is closing its borders to foreigners.

However, at the same time, the UK Visa Centre in Kiev is closed to the reception of documents and biometric data. The date of the reopening of the center is not yet known. Those who had a date for an appointment at the UK Visa Centre should have received a letter saying that the appointment is cancelled.  Anyone who has paid the consular fee but has not had time to sign up for the filing should be refunded the money back within 14 days. All those who have paid for the services of the Visa Center should apply in writing for a refund. Those people who managed to apply before the introduction of quarantine in the Center, will be able to pick up passports on working days from 11:00 to 16:00 in the British Visa Center in Kiev.

A lot of people have experienced that tourist trips, business meetings, conferences and seminars, as well as all mass events have had to be cancelled, or are postponed to other dates. Unfortunately, those who’s visa has expired will have to re-apply for a new visa and pay the consular fee again. When the reapplying to the embassy, we recommend that you attach a letter explaining why you could not use the visa. This letter will help to avoid misunderstandings with the embassy.

 After the settlement of the coronavirus situation, there will be a huge number of people who will resume processing their applications and filing documents which will likely create delays and problems with enrollment in the Visa Center. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you start preparations now, namely:

• fill out a visa application (it is kept in the system for six months);
• find out which documents to collect;
• translate the required documents into English;
• if your situation is difficult or ambiguous, consider how to convey to the embassy the importance of travel to Britain, as well as how to convince the embassy that you will return to your homeland in a timely manner.

And we remind you that you can apply for a visa to England in about 3 weeks (2 weeks for the embassy to review your documents and 1 week for document preparation).  For an additional fee, your documents can be reviewed within 5 days.