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The President of the Committee for Home Affairs has said delays in the UK visa application process could “potentially impact” local businesses.
Deputy Rob Prow commented on the situation after the Guernsey Border Agency was notified that the UK Visa & Immigration services (UKVI) is currently experiencing delays in processing UK standard entry visas, for study, work and family routes.
The UK has confirmed that it is currently seeing unprecedented demand for visas as a result of the invasion of Ukraine and the need for UKVI to prioritise applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme, and the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, to help meet the needs of those most at risk in this situation.
Pictured: Deputy Rob Prow said the delay could impact local businesses if they are seeking UK visa entry for new staff.
The delay directly affects global visa applications processed by the UK Government to enable anyone from outside the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man) to enter the UK and islands.
Consequently, customers with standard visa applications may experience delays in processing of visa applications. UKVI is currently unable to escalate individual cases except for urgent reasons, such as a medical emergency or to provide processing timelines.
Deputy Prow said: “While the current issues are at the UK end of the visa application process, and therefore outside our control, they nevertheless potentially impact businesses locally if they are seeking UK entry visas for new staff.
“We have been working closely with UKVI and are grateful for the updates it has provided us. Unfortunately, at this stage UKVI is not able to provide a timescale as to when this situation will change, but we know it is working as quickly as possible to process visa applications amid the understandable need to prioritise Ukraine applications.”
Pictured: The delay in processing visa applications has been caused by an "unprecedented" number of applications from Ukraine.
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