New process for submitting
supporting documents from
outside of the UK
17 May 2019
VFS is one of the UK Visas and Immigration Department’s commercial partners, covering most countries in Asia. Until recently, an applicant who wanted a settlement visa in the UK would submit her passport and application at one of the VFS centres and then courier supporting documents by post to Sheffield.
VFS has withdrawn this procedure with immediate effect.
Instead, the options open to overseas nationals applying for a UK visa are to:
- Pay for a documents scanning service at the visa centre, or
- To upload the scanned documents themselves directly to the Home Office, free of charge, or
- For their UK sponsor or a rep to submit the documents for scanning in person at one of the new centres in the UK (an increase from two to nine new locations (further information here). This service is charged at £75.
Please note that VFS doesn’t manage all of the UK visa submissions across the globe and arrangements can differ between countries.
PO Box in Sheffield has closed
Since the option to post supporting documents is no longer possible, UKVI’s PO Box
(PO Box 5852) in Sheffield has now closed although the processing centre itself is still open for business.
Any post from now on which has been addressed to that specific PO Box will not be delivered or redirected. If there is no return address on the parcel, there is a possibility that the documents will be destroyed.
While neither the VFS and UKVI websites have been fully updated yet, this service is being adopted in most countries in Asia, and is likely to be rolled out across the world in the near future.
Our experienced immigration specialists understand the processes, legal requirements and issues that cause problems. Smith Stone Walters will support you every step of the way.
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