Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources her Department is providing to Visa Application Centres throughout the World to help them tackle backlogs that have developed as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Following initial closures as a result of global Covid-19 restrictions, Visa Application Centres (VACs) overseas and UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) centres in the UK have started reopening in a phased way, with social distancing and other public health measures in place which has resulted in reduced appointment capacity.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is continuing to work with our commercial partners to ensure there is sufficient appointment availability so customers waiting for an appointment are able to enrol their biometrics and submit supporting documents safely and quickly.

Customers who have applied since services were suspended are being contacted and offered appointments in a phased way. For customers in the UK, in order to increase capacity and reduce customer contact UKVI will be reusing fingerprint biometrics for some customers who have supplied their fingerprints since July 2015. These customers do not need to attend a UKVCAS or an SSC service point appointment to provide biometric information.