(This article was updated on 17/07/2020)
April is a great time to visit the UK, given that most Indian schools have summer vacations at this time of the year. However, there is a big obstacle for visitors from India applying for a UK Visit visa: the availability of visas during peak times. There are anecdotal evidences of visa applicants missing holidays due to the longer visa processing times than the applicant imagined, and hence not leaving themselves enough time to reapply.
To avoid such painful situations and to help visitors, the UK announced ‘Beat the Peak’ initiative where visa seekers can apply for a visit visa to the UK 3 months in advance and their visa will be post-dated. This is expected to ensure that the rush during the Indian summer holiday season is reduced and the applicants have plenty of time to get their visas processed, or even reapply should the need arise.
While the standard processing time for a UK visa is 15 working days, most of the visa applications centres tend to give a decision within 6 – 8 working days. While highlighting the top reasons for refusal of UK visit visas, the British Deputy High Commissioner Kumar Iyer stated that most of the applications that were refused were because of the visa application form was incorrectly filled, or adequate supporting documents were not provided, and in some cases applicants have even submitted forged/fake documents that have led to their visit visa applications being refused.
Smart Assistance for Smart Immigration
At The Smartmove2UK (a unit of SmartMove Immigration). our UK Immigration experts help holiday goers to apply for Visit Visas, family members to apply for family visit visas, businessmen and professionals to apply for Business visit visas, all in addition to offering advice and assistance for student visitors, medical visitors, and marriage visitors.