Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

I've copied and pasted the email my (Australian) husband got a couple of days ago from VFS regarding his IEC spousal visa in case it's of use to anyone else. It's the first coherent bit of into we've received about the visa application we submitted in Feb. For context: we currently live in Australia, I'm a UK citizen. We submitted the non priority visa application online and uploaded all evidence on the 11th Feb and the biometrics were done the next day. We paid a bit extra so that my husband could keep his passport. On the 13th March he received an email asking him to take his passport to the VFS office in Sydney. He took the passport in on the 16th and was told then that he'd be called back to collect it in a few days. Obviously, since then the international situation had changed quite dramatically. So we keep waiting.



Dear Customer,


Due to the operational impact of COVID-19, the UK’s Visa Application Centres (VACs) are currently closed and we are unable to resolve new or existing applications. For further information please go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-immigration-and-borders

Our records show that you have a pending application for a UK visa which is yet to be concluded. This application has been placed on hold. If you have cancelled or withdrawn your application you can ignore this message.

We would like to reassure customers that this is due to the operational impacts of COVID-19. Customers should not be concerned that there is something wrong with their application. All information provided digitally is protected and your passport, where submitted, is being stored securely in a fireproof safe.

Once the VACs re-open and your application can be processed, we will contact you. Please do not attend the VAC until you have been advised that your application has been decided.

We regret that we are unable to return your passport at this time due to local government restrictions. We will let you know when the position changes. If you have an urgent need to travel, please contact your own government consular service to arrange an emergency travel document.

Please do not reply to this email, as the inbox is not monitored. If you wish to get in touch with VFS Global, please visit the ‘Contact us’ page on our website.



UK Visas and Immigration

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

I think this is a generic update which almost every applicant must have received. At the moment other than the frontline key workers everyone is working from home. However, if your documents have already been scanned and electronically forwarded to visa authorities then you would be in better situation of getting results than those who are still waiting for their biometrics enrolment. Although not fully sure but more likely they might return your passport without needing you to go there to collect if you have paid them the relevant fee.

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

It's the most informative piece of correspondence we've redirected from VFS/home office since the various lock downs were introduced. We had made enquiries but the response was always ambiguous and unclear. What I get from it is confirmation that my husband's passport (or visa) is not going to be returned until the lockdowns are lifted and normal service resumed. We did pay for a courier return of the passport, incidentally.

This email cleared up any doubt for us on whether my husband's visa was going to be approved in the middle of these lockdowns. I find that knowledge helpful.

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

That message is indeed quite helpful but still is generic as the same is pasted on the UKVCAS website too. Click on the link below and then click on the link inside the website on top:

https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/home-internal

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

There is no reference to pending visa applications or the return of passports in the link you've shared. These are the issues for my husband and I (and possibly others).

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

Thanks for posting the email Alelza, it's very useful for keeping the BE community informed :thumbup:

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

My wife received this as well, even though she already has her passport back with her UK Ancestry Vingette included together with a letter from the Home Office saying her application was successful. I think it is a generic email sent to all recent applicants whether the application has been completed or not.

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

This is what I’ve been hearing as well.

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

If you make the Google search then will find plenty of websites & other forums where applicants have reported to have received the same message means its a generic update to everyone. Of course its trivially helpful in reconfirming that your application is still in queue.

Re: Email from VFS re spouse visa application and Covid-19
 

Got the same email... We had just completed the application and had the biometrics appointment set for the following day then then it was cancelled.
So close... yet so far. And feels even further now.