As the government eases the lockdown, it’s hard to stay on top of what’s open and what’s not. We all probably know, from watching the news, that garden centres are now open but that’s only useful to you if you’re willing to wait in one of the long, winding queues that form at 7am outside your local tree nursery to peruse the stock that didn’t wilt in the two months during which practically all businesses were forced to close and, of course, if you’re one of the lucky people who have a garden to relax in whilst we all stay at home.
No, what you want to know are things like: Are visa application centres abroad open? Are visa application centres in the UK open? What about the Tribunals?
At the time of writing – 19th May 2020 – the answer to these three questions are: ‘no’, ‘no’and ‘sort of, but not really’. All visa application centres outside the UK are suspended until further notice. If you have an appointment at a visa centre that is closed, you should have been or should be contacted by the Home Office. If you are waiting for a decision and you need your passport back, you need to contact either TLScontact or VFS Global, depending on which company operates the relevant visa centre. Alternatively, you can contact the Home Office at CIH@homeoffice.gov.uk. If you were issued with a 30 day visa to travel to the UK for work, study or to join family and that has now expired because you were unable to travel due to coronavirus, you can request a free replacement with revised validity dates. You will need to contact the email address above: make sure you include your name, nationality, date of birth and GWF reference number with ‘REPLACEMENT 30 DAY VISA’ in the subject line.
All visa application centres in the UK are also closed. The situation remains under review. If you have an appointment at one of these centres, it will be rescheduled automatically or you will get a refund. Remember, as we covered in our last blog post, if you are in the UK and your visa is due to expire, you can request an extension online.
Face to face hearings in the First-Tier Tribunal have been suspended, other than in exceptional circumstances, until further notice. If you have an upcoming hearing, you (or your lawyers) will receive a notice containing instructions on what will happen next in your appeal.
All appeals in the Upper Tribunal have been postponed and are being case managed by the judiciary. There are no non-urgent judicial review hearings taking place and, until further notice, judicial review claims can be issued by post or online. According to Sir Ernest Ryder, the Senior President of Tribunals: “The normal arrangement in all tribunals is now remote hearings and decision making online or by telephone conferencing, video or Skype.” At the time of writing this post, not many remote hearings have been taking place. Bail hearings have been prioritised and are still taking place by telephone.
However, just because application centres are closed and hearings are not taking place, we are not sitting idly by. We continue to work with our clients to prepare their applications for entry clearance and further leave to remain and their appeals so that they can be ready to act when the application centres and Tribunals open again, bringing much-need certainty to their lives as soon as we can.
If you want to us to help you with your application or appeal, give our expert team of immigration lawyers a call on 020 3930 3831. We are here to help you.
