UK visa centers gradually reopen around the world

UK immigration is opening UK visa application centers at different locations of the world one after another after months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of June 2020, UK visa centers opened in:

• Thailand
• Taiwan
• Malaysia
• Hong Kong
• China
• Australia

Recently, more centers opened in:

• United Arab Emirates
• Saudi Arabia
• Kuwait
• India
• Bahrain

But there are many more centers yet to open around the world. This includes the US. No date of reopening of UK visa centers in the US has been announced yet. Most of the people now apply for a UK visa by enrolling their biometric information at the Application Support Centers that are operated by USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).

Applicants in the US must send their passport to the UK Visas & Scanning Hub in New York. A visa sticker will get fixed on the passport then. But as of now, this facility is closed.

Among other closed centers in the US are the US Premium Application Centers. This center facilitates UK visa applications. The USCIS Application Support Centers are slated to reopen on July 13, 2020.

Every UK visa application center around the world is run by:

• TLScontact - It covers centers across most of the Middle East, Africa, and Europe
• VFS Global - It operates centers outside of the above-mentioned regions

For any information on UK travel visa centers reopening, the websites of these companies may be visited.

UK visa application centers based in the UK are operated by Sopra Steria, a European tech consultancy firm. These centers are also gradually reopening. They will take up the task of biometric appointments. Applicants are invited via emails to schedule a biometric appointment. Priority is given to those who have applied before 27 March 2020.

The time taken for processing of applications will be more as priority UK visa services are suspended for now. The length of processing may be the longest for family-based visa applications.

In the Middle East, UK visa application centers have reopened in:

• Abu Dhabi and Dubai (UAE)
• Al Khobar, Jeddah, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
• Kuwait City (Kuwait)
• Manama (Bahrain)

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to UK, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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