Even though the United Kingdom has started processing visa applications within 15 days only, due to the high demand, the British High Commissioner urged students to speed up the process. Visa delays became a major problem soon after international travel resumed. This forced thousands of students, workers and tourists to reschedule their travel for several months.
British High Commissioner Alex Ellis on Friday updated on the new visa processing times, saying: “Two months ago, I said that we aim to replace travel visas from India to the UK by the end of the year, within our standard time of 15”. Working days. The good news is that the team has now achieved this by doing a great job here in Delhi and across the Visa network.
“There are still some cases that take longer, are very complex and it is right that they do,” he added.
“Of course you can still use the priority Visa channel if you want. We are changing that within five days.
Students are advised to speed up the process
Ellis informed,…we have a large number of student visas for the student session starting in January next year.
“Please apply as soon as possible as there is a high demand and for everyone who applies for a visa make sure you provide the correct information,” he advised.
An Office for National Statistics report last month revealed that Indian students have overtaken Chinese students as the largest group of overseas students studying in the UK for the first time, with visas increasing by a whopping 273% over the past few years happened.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said earlier this month that 1,20,987 Indian students have gone to the UK for studies till October this year.
He said, “According to the information recorded with the Bureau of Immigration, while 36,612 Indian students went to the UK in 2019, this number has increased to 44,901 in 2020 and 77,855 in 2021.”
Meanwhile, the Rishi Sunak government said it was planning stronger measures to bring net migration down from record lows. As per reports, the UK government may also consider banning foreign students except those accepted by top universities.
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